APHL Aids Agencies, NGOS to Set Up Critical Lab Testing Services in Haiti

Dave Doherty, senior technical consultant for APHL in Haiti, manages a four-person field team that is presently assessing the post-earthquake status of public laboratories for Dr. Jacques Boncy, Director of Laboratoire National de Santé Publique (LNSP), and in support of PEPFAR activities under the direction of Dr. Steve Harris, CDC/GAP Haiti Chief of Party.

Although many of the facilities are severely damaged, many laboratory technicians and supervisors are at the hospital sites and doing what they can under these difficult circumstances. The response of the Haitian laboratory staff is commendable and an illustration of the heroic response of the people of Haiti who have lost family and homes.

The AIDS Relief organization in Haiti identified five Vitros chemistry analyzers and the PEPFAR Supply Chain Management System will provide reagents, so these needed instruments can be used at emergency trauma centers. Doherty’s team will transport the equipment and reagents, and coordinate staff needs and training for technicians. Dr. Boncy has directed APHL to put the instruments into operation at the major hospitals in the Southwest and South where most of the trauma patients are received.