After enjoying a successful five years of strengthening laboratory services in Zambia, the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia’s (CIDRZ) Laboratory Innovation for Excellence (LIFE) project, funded by the @Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now transitioned to a new project called Transitioning and Integrating Laboratory Services (TRAILS) project.

This transition signifies the change in focus to sustaining the improvements made in the laboratory services by the LIFE project and building on the success to transition the interventions to be managed by the Ministry of Health.

The Chief of Party for the TRAILS project Mr. Powell Choonga has extolled the successes scored by the LIFE project in improving the government’s laboratory services. He highlighted the shortening of laboratory accreditation duration from 7-9 years prior to the LIFE project to less than 3 years following the intervention as a transformative milestone in laboratory quality.

Further, laboratory courier services were strengthened with robust and real-time tracking systems for samples and results to enhance patient care and public health response.

“The CIDRZ LIFE project has been widely hailed as one of the most successful projects implemented in the laboratory space,” Mr. Choonga revealed.

He further emphasizes that the TRAILS project is leveraging the accomplishments of the LIFE project and seeks to effectively manage the transition of laboratory programmes to full implementation by the Ministry of Health.

“The design and planning of TRAILS activities is bringing the Ministry of Health to the front and centre for sustainability. We envisage that our interventions in this current mandate will leave enduring and meaningful trails that will positively impact the laboratory landscape for a long time to come,” Mr Choonga said.