Cross-institution collaboration to produce national POCT guidelines

The Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine’s (ADLM) Global Lab Quality Initiative helps partners reach their goals in the laboratory science profession. Education is only part of the effort. The Association of Clinical Chemists of Nigeria (ACCN) sought to produce real-world results and asked for the Africa Subcommittee’s help in doing so.

To help the lab medicine professionals reach their goal, 5 months after The Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine’s (ADLM) Africa Subcommittee traveled to Abuja, Nigeria to conduct a 2-day workshop, they reconnected with the ACCN virtually to present on national point-of-care testing (POCT) governance, capacity-building, and policy development. Thirty-eight hand-picked thought leaders listened to presentations from Africa Subcommittee members, individuals from ACCN, and representatives from Nigeria’s Ministry of Health. Since the November 2025 workshop, Nigerian laboratorians have been hard at work on the production of a white paper on POC national policy that will be submitted to the Ministry of Health.

ADLM/ACCN workshop attendees posing in front of the stage

A pivotal presentation

There was one pivotal lecture during the workshop that left attendees inspired: a presentation by Anthony Okorodudu, PhD, MBA, DABCC, FADLM that gave attendees a foundation on POCT purchasing policy.

On March 25, Okorodudu presented "Enhancing POCT Quality by Strategic Purchasing Policy” virtually from his office at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX. Over the course of an hour, Okorodudu focused on national governance, health policy makers, the innovation of POCT devices, and the importance of having a strong local market. It was a catalyst for further conversation behind the production of the white paper, and the presentation’s contents felt relevant to a Nigerian audience, particularly the need for having a strong local market.

Anthony Okorodudu, PhD, MBA at the University of Texas Medical Branch

ACCN President Professor Idris, MD, explained that some of Nigeria’s biggest challenges in this space are that many reagents are lacking and specimens remain untested.

“It's not really a capability problem in itself,” Idris explained. “It has to do with the supply chain and the procurement problem that is rooted in over-dependence of approved goods from mostly foreign manufacturers. And most of these foreign manufacturers have no obligation to maintain a consistent supply chain to the African market.”

Professor Idris Mohammed, MD, speaking at the 2025 ADLM workshop in Nigeria

Professor Idris Mohammed, MD, presenting to the audience at the 2025 ADLM/ACCN/Academy of Medical Sciences workshop.

Nigeria’s economy is affected by these challenges, which are compounded by the lack of a regulatory body (like the United States’ CLIA) to oversee laboratory medicine and the politicization of procurement. Idris, along with fellow attendees, listened to Okorodudu’s presentation with keen interest, knowing that its contents would be helpful to their white paper task and the improvement of POC purchasing policy in Nigeria overall. Okorodudu called on the audience to “innovate locally.”

This short but powerful sentence stuck with Idris. Local innovation was a main point that was weaved into the presentation, along with the points of educating legislators and building self-dependent POCT policies.

The country’s size should offer strength in solving some of these problems.

“Nigeria has a very vast population,” Idris said, “and that means a lot of market for the healthcare industry. And we can actually use that as a bargaining chip — to negotiate with equipment manufacturers and reagent suppliers to make a case for local manufacturing.”

It might take unity to realize that power, however. And the March 2026 workshop brought these groups into the same discussion.

Idris, Merih Tesfazghi, PhD, DABCC (chair of the Africa Subcommittee) and Zainab Uba Ibrahim MBBS, MScPH, FWACP posing for a photo at the 2025 ADLM/ACCN/Academy of Medical Sciences workshop

From unity to solutions

It will take multiple individuals and organizations to reform some of these challenges surrounding purchasing policy in Nigeria, Idris believes. He emphasized the important role of ACCN in this effort: the Nigerian government cannot be the only body working to find improvements.

John Anetor, PhD, who was also in attendance at the workshop and has played an important role in the white paper production, identified two barriers Nigerian laboratorians will face as the paper comes into fruition: health policy makers can be slow to persuade, and external manufacturers believe that the Nigerian market cannot support local manufacturing. Despite potential setbacks, attendees were motivated to take Okorodudu’s recommendations seriously.

Professor John Anetor interacting with speakers at the ADLM/ACCN workshop in 2025

John I. Anetor, PhD, FCMLS (Nig.), FIBMS (UK), FADLM, interacting with speakers at the 2025 ADLM/ACCN/Academy of Medical Sciences Nigeria workshop

Next steps

The white paper that the Nigerian laboratorians have created will serve as a guide for professionals. The document is currently undergoing final editing for publication. It will be reviewed by various groups, including ADLM’s Africa Subcommittee.

Eventually, it will be submitted to the Nigerian Ministry of Health in hopes that it is adapted into a policy. Okorodudu’s presentation, efforts from the ACCN and various Nigerian laboratorians, and ADLM’s Africa Subcommittee are the contributors to this effort. ADLM looks forward to Nigeria’s laboratory medicine workforce’s achievement of this goal and hopes it acts as the inspiration to other countries in Africa and beyond.

Attendees at the ADLM/ACCN/MoH workshop posing for a photo

The ADLM/ACCN workshop was conducted as a part of the Global Lab Quality Initiative funded by the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation. Any society interested in partnering on a similar workshop should contact [email protected].