Laboratory leadership competency framework

Overview

Laboratories are an essential and fundamental part of health systems and play a critical role in the detection, diagnosis, treatment and control of diseases. However, reliable laboratory services continue to be limited in many low- and middle-income countries. Although there have been examples of effective laboratory responses to outbreaks, a well-documented number of such events, including some at the convergence of human, animal, and environmental health, have shown how a lack of robust laboratory systems can impede disease control and prevention efforts. Recent examples include outbreaks of: Ebola viral disease, human H5N1 (avian) influenza, Zika viral disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and foot and mouth disease (FMD). Likewise, the control and management of endemic diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease, malaria, cholera and brucellosis, as well as infections caused by antimicrobialresistant pathogens, are also hampered by a lack of adequate laboratory services. These circumstances highlight the importance of building sustainable national health laboratory systems that are a component of overall health systems. This would require a long-term commitment and laboratory leaders who are able to manage laboratories in complex environments and build strong collaborative networks at every level of the health system in order to attain optimal human, animal and environmental health.