Health Laboratory Services in Support of Primary Health Care in Developing Countries

A detailed practical guide to the development of high-quality national health laboratory services in South-East Asian countries. In view of the frequent absence of laboratory-based information at the primary health care level, the book gives particular attention to the development of peripheral laboratories as a means of supporting better patient management and better disease surveillance. The book also issues abundant advice on how to take full advantage, in peripheral as well as more sophisticated laboratories, of the many new rapid tests for use in the diagnosis of infectious diseases and in clinical chemistry and pathology.

Now in its second edition, the book has been substantially revised and expanded to reflect the latest advances in these tests. New chapters also respond to the alarming emergence or re-emergence of several infectious diseases, and greatly improved methods for quality assurance in laboratory medicine. Throughout, tables, flowcharts, lists of do's and don'ts, and step-by-step instructions are used to enforce the book's value as a practical tool.

The book, which is addressed to health planners and other decision-makers, has eight chapters presented in four parts. Part one provides guidelines for the establishment and development of national health laboratory services capable of meeting all the needs of curative and preventive medicine. Chapters cover the functions, management, staffing, and financing of services, and describe measures, such as the provision of manuals and the standardization of techniques, that contribute to the successful operation of services.
Part two, on appropriate technology, presents detailed advice that can help health planners decide when to use the new rapid diagnostic tests, which have become increasingly sensitive, field-friendly, and affordable, and when to rely on conventional culture methods.
The third and most extensive part provides a detailed guide to the methodology of quality assurance in clinical chemistry, microbiology, haematology, and blood banks. In response to the growing importance of quality assurance in South-East Asia, chapters also provide guidelines that can be used in the formal inspection and accreditation of laboratories. The final part deals with biosafety in laboratories, giving particular attention to measures for protecting staff from infection with HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, tuberculosis, and several other emerging or re-emerging diseases.