Kampala — The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors has approved $63.66m to create a unique regional network of 25 public health laboratories across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda.

This network will operate across country borders, improving access to diagnostic services to vulnerable populations in cross border areas and making optimal use of internet and mobile communications to improve public health.

"At a time when the global economic crisis has undermined Africa's recent economic achievements, regional integration is an essential strategy for restoring medium-term growth, unlocking economies of scale, and sharpening competitiveness in Africa," said Obiageli Ezekwesili, the World Bank Vice President for Africa.

She said the bank is committed to supporting regional solutions that target missing links in regional infrastructure, greater trade integration, and cross-border health issues critical to accelerating the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's).

"Laboratories are currently the weakest link in the region's public health defenses, seriously hindering each country's ability to confirm and respond in a coordinated manner to disease outbreaks," she noted.

By bolstering diagnostic and surveillance capacities, the new multi-country laboratory network will help to identify potentially devastating disease outbreaks at an early stage, enabling countries to act quickly to prevent the rapid spread of diseases across borders.

Communicating outbreak-related information across national borders in real time is more important than ever before, as labour mobility is likely to increase shortly with the establishment of the East African Community Common Market and with growing global travel.

The network will also support the roll-out of new technology for drug resistance monitoring and more efficient tuberculosis diagnosis notably for people living with HIV/AIDS.

"Greater access to diagnostic services is expected to significantly contribute to improved health outcomes, and ultimately to attaining the Millennium Development Goals," she explained in a statement issued by the World Bank in Kampala last week.

The statement said that all four countries have a high burden of tuberculosis with an increasing threat of drug resistance.

Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are on the World Health Organisation (WHO) list of 22 "high-burden" countries that together account for 80% of the world's tuberculosis cases while Rwanda is on the WHO list of 15 "high- TB incidence" countries.

"The East Africa Public Health Laboratory Networking Project effectively addresses both a key weakness in health systems and a critical gap in the continental response to TB," said Richard Scobey, Acting Director, Regional Integration in the World Bank's Africa Region.

"It represents our strong commitment to expanding access to services to vulnerable groups and highlights the innovative use of ICTs to improve public health in Africa"

Each country will become a center of excellence for a key aspect of the project with Rwanda taking the lead on ICTs and performance-based financing.

Kenya will serve as a center for integrated disease surveillance and response, and for operational research. Uganda will take the lead on laboratory networking and accreditation while Tanzania will develop high-quality training programs.

"We have seen the importance of collective action already in the eradication of small pox and in progress towards the elimination of onchocerciasis and polio," said Miriam Schneidman, project leader and Lead Health Specialist at the World Bank.

"This project will enable each country to take the driver's seat for a chosen area, creating expertise that can be pooled efficiently and systematically for a greater regional impact" she noted.

The project will serve as a vehicle to implement strategic disease control priorities of regional institutions such as the East African Community (EAC) and the East, Central, and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC).

ECSA-HC will play a critical convening, coordinating, and monitoring role at the regional level, financed by the four participating countries. Partners who have contributed to the design and development of the project include the United States Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, the United States Agency for International Development, and the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.