Health laboratory services are essential for both public health and clinical medicine. Clinical and Public Health laboratories are indispensable in supporting the clinical care of individual patients, as well as in supporting various public health programmes, e.g. the prevention, surveillance and control of communicable diseases, including HIV/STI, blood transfusion services, non-communicable diseases, maternal and child health, environmental health, safe water supply, food safety and other.
Therefore, development and strengthening of the laboratory services, and provision of quality laboratory results by both, clinical and public health laboratories is considered as one of the priorities under the health system strengthening strategy.
At the global level, WHO support to the Member States is aimed broadly under the global “Essential health technologies” programme, seeking evidence-based technologies that provide cost-effective solutions to health problems.
Health technologies are used at every level of the health care system. From the simplest to the most advanced, they form the backbone of the services medicine can offer in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness and disease.
The main thrust of EHT´s activities will be to assist Member States in establishing and optimizing the use of medical technologies. The main projects are in the fields of:
- Diagnostics and Laboratory Technology
- Blood transfusion safety
- Quality Assurance and Safety: Blood Products and related Biologicals
- Diagnostic imaging
- Medical devices and equipment