Enhanced leadership, workforce and organisational development in partner country and regional public health organisations is one element of the IHR strengthening Projects triple remit. To address this remit UKHSA has established a programme for Public Health Laboratory managers to facilitate skills development in the areas of laboratory management and leadership. This has been delivered previously public health laboratory colleagues from 12 member states of the Eastern and Southern region of Africa.

After a year there was a request to deliver the content to colleagues from francophone and Lusophone member states on April 12-17 in Dakar, Senegal. The training brought together 20 laboratory leaders (including Lab Directors from National Public Health Institutes) from 10 African countries (two from each country) to discuss technical and leadership aspects of laboratory management. The participants also had an opportunity to network and create good working relationships which they can use to create multi-country laboratory system-related linkages.

Participants were trained in leadership concepts focussing on leading themselves, teams, and the wider systems they work in. The in-person interactions among the trainers and the trainees resulted in the creation of good working relationships. As a way forward online sessions for cohort trained in Dakar and working with Africa CDC to plan the next multi-country laboratory leadership trainings for other regions of Africa.

Professor Amadou Moctar Dieye- Director of Directorate of Laboratories of Senegal “I would like for the trainings to be focused on looking within Africa to work on our issues based on our (Africa's) reality”