Original from: 360DX

Roche announced that it has expanded its partnership with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve HIV and tuberculosis prevention, testing, and treatment. 

The organizations will implement a public-private partnership called Lab Networks for Health that aims to increase laboratory human resource capacity building by expanding training interventions and to support laboratory quality management systems and improvement programs. They also intend to optimize laboratory workflows and integrated diagnostics networks to increase access to multi-pathogen testing capabilities to improve pandemic preparedness, Roche said in a statement. 

The firm added that the partners will also work to improve local and regional capacity for effective laboratory waste management and related biosafety approaches. The partnership will target select countries greatly affected by HIV and tuberculosis, including those in Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Latin and Central America, and the Caribbean. 

Activities under the partnership will be developed in a manufacturer-agnostic and collaborative manner by representatives from the CDC, Roche global and regional offices, and host country health ministries.

"CDC's global laboratory-supported systems and networks are critical for detecting and monitoring HIV and tuberculosis and have also been vital in the response to COVID-19 and other disease outbreaks," Hank Tomlinson, director of the CDC's Division of Global HIV and TB, said in a statement. "Our renewed partnership with Roche Diagnostics will help to sustain these essential platforms, enhance laboratory workforce capacity, and identify efficiencies in multi-disease public health laboratory systems to ensure accurate, reliable, and responsive diagnostic services globally." 

Source: Roche Expands Partnership With CDC to Strengthen Lab Systems for HIV, Tuberculosis Testing