National Public Reference Laboratory

Currently in Mozambique, the National Institute of Health (NIH) serves both the National Public Health

Laboratory functions (similar to the Centers for Disease Control in the United States) as well as

establishing, implementing, and monitoring Mozambique's national scientific research agenda (similar to the

NIH in the United States). However, the organization, oversight and coordination of these activities is

severely hampered by the fact that they are spread across multiple organizational units of the Ministry of

Health (MOH), with no common management and oversight structure. Furthermore, several National

Reference Laboratories are housed within the MOH, which was designed to be an administrative building,

and thus lacks appropriate biosafety features and barriers to protect laboratorians as well as other

inhabitants of the building. A recent assessment of the Public Health System in Mozambique found that

lack of appropriate physical infrastructure was a significant impediment to the countries ability to implement,

manage, and maintain essential public health activities in the country.

According to the Minister of Health, the government of Mozambique places high importance on public health

but lacks the physical infrastructure and human capacity to successfully carry out critical public health

activities. The country is fully aware that it lacks the capacity to adequately address core public health

functions and needs more public health research and surveillance to provide an evidence base for public

health policies. In addressing these problems, the Minister reported the Ministry's priorities to include the

following:

1. Human capacity development: There is a need to raise motivation among

researchers and to create an optimal environment conducive for public health research.

2. Infrastructure development: The MOH has occupied its current building since independence (1975) and

concerns of the biosafety issues associated with housing laboratories within the administrative building is

well recognized. Infrastructural development is therefore urgently needed to ensure the safety of the MOH

staff and to allow for capacity growth and development.

In collaboration with the International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI), the Ministry

of Health has developed a National Public Health Strategic Plan which was recently approved by the

Minister of Health. This plan describes the organizational structure and function of a National Public Health

Institute. One part of the Institute is the National Public Health Reference Laboratory (NPHRL).

To implement the National Strategy, the MOH has requested assistance from USG in planning and

constructing the NPHRL component. The NPHRL will bring together all National Reference Laboratories in

a facility that is appropriately safe and secure. In addition, an essential function of the NPHRL will be to

provide laboratory-based public health training. The new NPHRL will house the country's seven National

Reference Laboratories in addition to state-of-the-art laboratory training facilities sufficient to conduct

centralized and/or specialized laboratory trainings. Land sufficient to build both the NPHRL (funded by

PEPFAR) and a separate but adjacent building to house administrative, surveillance and other non-

laboratory based public health activities (funded by other donors) has been identified by the Ministry of

Health. IANPHI in collaboration with USG and other donors will continue to work with Ministry of Health to

implement the National Strategy.

The expected budget for a NPHRL, which will include seven National Reference Laboratories, training

laboratories, and associated office space, is $5,000,000. FY2009 funding for Architectural and Engineering

costs, estimated to be $500,000, has been budgeted within the Systems Strengthening - Physical

Infrastructure Program Area. Funding mechanism will be RPSO and CDC will act as project officer. A

Request For Proposals will be developed to identify the appropriate architectural expertise to design a

laboratory facility with Biosafety Level 3 capacity. The most qualified proposal will be award the contract to

complete the architectural and engineering phase of the project. As physical infrastructure investments are

a priority for the Government of Mozambique, allocation of the remaining $4,500,000 to construct the

National Public Health Reference Laboratory will be prioritized in Mozambique's COP 2010.

New/Continuing Activity: New Activity

Continuing Activity:

Table 3.3.18: