Advancing Diagnostic Network Optimization, Stepwise Laboratory Accreditation, and Integrated One Health Specimen Transport in Liberia - Since the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, Liberia has made great strides in rebuilding its health system to be more resilient, regained community trust in public health authorities, and integrated its fragmented laboratory system. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other U.S. government (USG) agencies have made significant investments to equip new emergency operations centers and support the diagnostic network. Still, poor coordination among laboratories, siloed programs that address only specific diseases, staff shortages, and ongoing disease outbreaks continue to undercut progress. To address these challenges, our consortium led by ICF Macro, Inc. (ICF), will empower Liberian institutions to deliver high-quality, One Health-integrated laboratory diagnostic services at national and subnational levels to mitigate disease outbreaks. Our solution will include a Liberian government-owned and -operated digital system for improved laboratory information management. Across the diagnostic network, we will help optimize resource investments and build the capacity of the Ministry of Health (MOH) to support emergency response. Our key personnel—all based in Liberia—include Ellen Munemo, a microbiologist who has 20 years of experience optimizing diagnostic networks, as project director; David Vessellee, who formerly served as chief diagnostic officer for Liberia’s MOH, as technical director; Theophilus Kiah, who has 10 years of experience monitoring USG-funded global health projects in Liberia, as monitoring and evaluation (M&E) director; and Mohamed Jawara, who has more than 30 years of experience strengthening the financial and administrative capacity of organizations in Liberia, as financial and administrative director. Our key personnel bring deep contextual expertise, technical capabilities, and experience working on infectious disease programs. The ICF team brings extensive experience implementing global health programs in Liberia, with relationships at all levels and sectors of the health system and with methods in place to identify, implement, and monitor activities in complex, dynamic environments. Most recently, ICF closed out the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Infectious Disease Detection and Surveillance project in Liberia, through which we created a mentorship program to build quality management systems in subnational laboratories, responded to Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks, and built capacity to manage the diagnostic network. ICF has worked with CDC for more than 40 years and has supported CDC’s global health work since 2003, providing technical assistance in such areas as planning, monitoring, and evaluating global HIV/AIDS activities; and strengthening national M&E systems, to name a few. ICF was an awardee of the first Global Data and Technical Assistance blanket purchase agreement and was awarded 10 task orders—more than any other awardee. Our consortium includes Partners In Health (PIH) and Riders for Health, two organizations with a robust history of delivering health services in hard-to-reach and underserved areas of Liberia. With ICF leading the finance, management, and implementation of all aspects of the project, including the digital solution for electronic management of laboratory information, PIH will lead project implementation in the Southeast and will contribute to the development of national guidelines and best practices for quality assurance and accreditation. Riders for Health will research best practices for specimen transport across health sectors (human, animal, and environmental) and will contribute to the design and piloting of specimen transport systems. All consortium partners will contribute to the emergency outbreak response.
