Experts from the National Public Health Laboratory (LNSP) of Haiti, the GHESKIO Centers and the Mérieux Foundation, as well as representatives from the Agence française de Développement (AFD), met in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on April 11 and 12, 2023 for workshops and the first steering committee of the C19-HaïtiLab project.

The workshops allowed each operational partner, the Mérieux Foundation, LNSP and the GHESKIO Centers, to go over the progress and future activities of this AFD-funded project to strengthen capacities of biomedical analysis laboratories in Haiti.

The second day of the meeting was devoted to the steering committee. After a review of the project, its objectives and achievements, discussions focused on the security situation in Haiti. The stakeholders were able to discuss the evolution of the Haitian context and the impacts on the project, in particular, the organization of field missions. The day concluded with a discussion of the project’s future and follow-up.

The close collaboration of the LNSP and the GHESKIO Centers and their strong involvement, combined with the experience of the Mérieux Foundation in Haiti, were highlighted as key success factors of C19-HaïtiLab. As long-time partners, the three operational actors were able to rely on the experience they acquired together during previous public health projects, to carry out the activities of C19-HaïtiLab, such as the reinforcement of biosafety/biosecurity, sample transportation, data transmission and optimization of infrastructures energy performance. C19-HaïtiLab confirms the crucial importance of continuing to support these health structures in a critical security context and demonstrates the possibility of successfully completing these projects.

The C19-HaïtiLab project was born as a result of the response to the COVID-19 epidemic and aims to strengthen the capacities of the medical biology laboratory system in Haiti in a sustainable and comprehensive manner so that they can respond effectively to COVID-19 as well as to future epidemics.

The project combines a decentralized action with the strengthening of peripheral laboratories in connection with the LNSP and a centralized action around the improvement of the energy performance of GHESKIO centers. With financial support from AFD, the Mérieux Foundation is coordinating the project’s activities and providing its technical expertise, particularly in infrastructure and quality.