GUIDELINES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF HEALTH LABORATORY QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Health laboratory services are an essential component and the backbone of a strong, functional, and resilient national health system. They are indubitably crucial in providing quality healthcare services by accurately diagnosing diseases and assisting clinicians in developing evidence-based care and treatment plans, monitoring treatment effects, and making timely prognoses of potential outcomes. Health laboratories play a vital role in epidemiological surveillance, prevention, control, and eradication of infectious diseases. An informed and effective response to disease outbreaks of epidemic or pandemic proportions is impossible without the support of health laboratories. Furthermore, undertaking basic biomedical and public health researches would be incomplete if not impossible without the support and involvement of health laboratories.