Role of medical diagnostics laboratories key to controlling AMR in Africa: Nqobile Ndlovu

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) has affected Africans and Africa with the highest mortality rate of 27.3 per 100,000, according to the new ‘African Union Landmark Report’ launched in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on August 15, 2024.

In fact, the mortality related to AMR in Africa exceeds the combined death toll from HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Down To Earth spoke to the chief executive of the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), Nqobile Ndlovu on the sidelines of the report launch. He reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to strengthening African laboratory capacities to combat AMR. Edited excerpts:

Mekonnen Teshome (MT): What is the role of laboratories in controlling AMR?

Nqobile Ndlovu (NN): The ASLM understands that AMR has become a global problem and is included among the top 10 public health challenges in Africa. 

Therefore, AMR must be understood first through testing and diagnostics of the pathogens that cause the disease.

We apply laboratory techniques and technologies to determine whether a pathogen is sensitive (or not) to a medicine and can be treated (or not) with available medicines.

With laboratory diagnostics and laboratory services, we thus provide evidence vital to control AMR.

MT: What are the activities undertaken by ASLM to help laboratories achieve these objectives?

NN: Our society is making efforts to ensure that African countries have adequate number of medical laboratories.

The laboratories have to provide data and build the evidence that can inform policies that are needed to control AMR.

We need to make sure that we are strengthening the laboratory networks in the continent so that they have the capacity to actually detect AMR genes and find out whether they can be treated or not. We also need to train the workforce so that they understand how to respond to AMR at programme level.

We envision realising a healthy Africa through access to quality laboratory services and diagnostics.

MT: What are the challenges faced by African medical laboratories in the fight against AMR?

NN: When it comes to challenges, first and foremost we do not have enough laboratories with the capacity to effectively test. This is a major problem related to capacity in Africa.

Recently, we managed to do a survey in 14 countries and the data tells us that only around 1.3 per cent of the laboratories have the capacity to test. Therefore, having information on AMR in Africa is the biggest challenge at the moment.

Having the right number of laboratories doing AMR testing and managing data is another challenge.

A question presents itself: Is the information generated by us actually being used?

We can test, have the information in the laboratories, on the shelf and in the computers. But the information is not being used to inform decision-making and policies.

MT: What, then, are the solutions?

NN: This is the reason we are here, attending the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s launch of its landmark report on AMR in Addis Ababa, to have a common voice as a continent by bringing together all member states.

We want to share our aspirations, discuss our challenges and solutions to address these challenges, as well as ways to move forward.

Now, we will need political commitment to address the issue. We need investments in building capacities in Africa. As far as AMR is concerned, capacity building is key.

Of course, taking the ‘One Health approach’ into consideration and coordinate all of the different sectors is also vital in this regard.

African countries are committed to contribute their level best. We have got a good number of African Union member states that are represented here and the AMR landmark report itself is actually the reflection of the commitment. Basically, we are coming together as a unified common voice — that of the African continent.

We need to continue pressing forward with specific action items that can drive home the point that investment should continue. The landmark report is the result of the consultations that have been happening among many African countries.