Nepal - Strengthening the laboratory system

Nepal National Laboratory Strategic Plan Development

Date: January - December 2020

Location: Nepal

Client: Save the Children

Type of services:

Supported laboratory system assessment and facilitated development of Nepal’s National Laboratory Strategic Plan, including formulation of strategic objectives.

Report(s):

[Feb 2020] Developing a National Laboratory Strategic Plan for Nepal - After going through a period of transition, the Federal Republic of Nepal is now ready and eager to develop their National Laboratory Strategic Plan. A National Laboratory Strategic Plan gives countries direction in the performance and strengthening of their laboratory services and puts them in the driving seat regarding the laboratory strengthening activities that they want to perform.

Under the leadership of the National Public Health Laboratory and with support from Save the Children International/Global Fund, more than 30 experts from national and provincial level convened in Kathmandu from 10-14 February 2020 to start the development of the National Laboratory Strategic Plan. During a 5-day meeting DATOS’ Linda Oskam facilitated the assessment of the current state of the laboratory services and the performance of a SWOT analysis. The group identified eleven topics for the National Laboratory Strategic Plan and made a start with the formulation of strategic objectives.

In March 2020 we intend to finalize the development of the draft National Laboratory Strategic Plan and make it available for wider policy dialogue.

[8 Feb 2021] We are proud to announce that the draft National Laboratory Strategic Plan for Nepal has been finalized.

Linda Oskam started the facilitation of the development of the National Laboratory Strategic Plan in February 2020. The plan was developed by a group of health laboratory specialists from all provinces in Nepal under the inspiring leadership of Dr. Runa Jha and her team from the National Public Health Laboratory.

And then the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic hit the world and laboratories and their staff once again had to show how crucial they are in the fight against outbreaks…

This meant that, also in Nepal, laboratory staff worked around the clock to support surveillance and clinical care. Despite this, we continued the development of the plan and finalized the draft of the National Laboratory Strategic Plan, also including the lessons learned from the pandemic. The strategic plan can now be used to guide the (further) strengthening of the laboratory system in Nepal.

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Fleming Fund Inception Phase

Date: January - May 2017

Location: Nepal & Myanmar

Client: Fleming Fund through Mott MacDonald

Type of services:

• Contributed technical input to proposal development for the Fleming Fund.
• Coordinated laboratory and surveillance system strengthening activities.
• Conducted laboratory and surveillance system assessments during scoping missions in Myanmar and Nepal.

Report(s):

[5 Mar 2017] Linda Oskam is currently in Myanmar and Nepal on a scoping mission for the Fleming Fund to assess the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) situation and the surveillance capacity in these countries.

The Fleming Fund is an initiative of the UK Department of Health and aims to support around 30 countries worldwide to improve their AMR surveillance capacity up to the level that they can report to GLASS (Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System). One Health, sustainability, country ownership and alignment with policies and other initiatives are crucial to the program.

Mott MacDonald serves as the Fleming Fund Management Agent and Linda was hired to serve as a laboratory expert during the inception phase. Currently, Mott MacDonald teams are carrying out scoping missions to get a better understanding of the AMR surveillance situation in Myanmar, Nepal, Ghana and Uganda, to raise awareness among stakeholders, to test the approaches and tools that were developed so far and (ultimately) to get grant proposals from the countries involved.

In Myanmar we had a meeting with the Minister of Health and Sports, His Excellency Dr. Myint Htwe, who was very supportive. 

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Assessment of the Mycobacterial Research Laboratory

Date: December 2016 + August 2023 - April 2024

Location: Nepal

Client: The Leprosy Mission Nepal

Type of services:

Conducted a comprehensive assessment of the Mycobacterial Research Laboratory and provided strategic recommendations to improve service delivery and quality management practices.

Report(s):

[6 Dec 2016] From  5 to 7 December 2016 Linda Oskam was in Anandaban (Nepal, just south of Kathmandu) for the mid-term review of the research activities of Anandaban Hospital and the Mycobacterial Research Laboratory.

Anandaban Hospital provides specialized leprosy care for leprosy patients from all over Nepal with support from The Leprosy Mission Nepal and The Leprosy Mission International. Apart from diagnosis and treatment, care for complications, surgery and social rehabilitation, Anandaban Hospital also performs research into all aspects of leprosy. As leprosy is a neglected tropical disease that mostly hits the poorest people in developing countries, Anandaban Hospital and its Research Laboratory are one of the few remaining high level leprosy research centers in the world.

In 2007 and 2013, Linda Oskam was involved in the mid-term reviews of the research and laboratory activities. During the current review and assessment a team of 3 experts went over all the research activities and discussed current successes and challenges as well as opportunities for improvement and expansion. This will help Anandaban Hospital to continue its world class research activities that are crucial for our understanding of the biological, epidemiological and social context of leprosy and help to provide state of the art care for all leprosy patients worldwide.

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