Supporting the development of POCT guidelines in Nigeria
Merih Tesfazghi, PhD, DABCC
ADLM, Association of Clinical Chemists of Nigeria (ACCN) and Academy of Medical Sciences of Nigeria members.
In late March, the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM) will re-connect with the Association of Clinical Chemists Nigeria (ACCN) for a 2-day workshop on point-of-care testing (POCT). The associations met last year for the first time to discuss blood banking and transfusion practices, laboratory quality management, role of artificial intelligence in laboratory medicine, and point of care management. This time around, the approach is slightly different – ADLM speakers will join virtually to present on integrating POCT into the health care system to support the Nigerian laboratorians’ development of a white paper on POC national policy to be submitted to the country’s Ministry of Health.
Merih Tesfazghi, PhD, DABCC, conversing with Professor Osato Giwa Osagie, FAMedS, OON, the President of the Academy of Medical Sciences Nigeria.
Lack of POCT regulation
The workshop arose from discussions with members of the ACCN regarding the need for POCT regulation and proper management. At the conclusion of the workshop, knowing that there were no national guidelines for POCT in Nigeria, Africa Subcommittee chair Merih Tesfazghi, PhD, DABCC knew that a follow-on workshop with a tangible outcome was necessary.
The program builds on interactions in the November 2025 workshop and the understanding that the potential benefits of POCT may be outweighed by risks when testing is implemented without an appropriate regulatory framework and adequate quality management system.
Professor Idris Mohammed, MD, presenting at the ADLM/ACCN/Academy of Medical Sciences workshop in November of 2025.
A new kind of workshop
What makes this workshop unique is the goal of helping the participants create and submit a national POCT policy framework to Nigeria’s Ministry of Health. But finding the right partner is an essential component of that outcome. The collaboration with ACCN, under the leadership of ACCN President, Professor Idris Mohammed, will meet that need. The attendees will work together to assemble the document based on an assessment of their country’s needs and discussions held over the two-day workshop.
Tesfazghi emphasized that education alone is not enough and holding a workshop with a direct outcome could be very impactful for the country. He also hopes the outcome of the workshop, if successful, will have a domino effect, and other countries in Africa might feel motivated to create a similar change, despite prevailing challenges.
Nigeria for the second time
Re-visiting Nigeria was a calculated choice made by the Africa Subcommittee. Partnering with a country just one time isn’t sufficient. Tesfazghi explained the follow-on workshop, saying, “If the impact is influence – we want to diversify. If the impact is to bring about changing quality—you will want to drill and forge partnerships.”
Tesfazghi and the rest of the Africa Subcommittee are confident that the revisitation will have more positive impact on challenges faced by lab professionals in Nigeria.
Outcome-oriented work
The action plan for the creation of the framework starts with educating the Federal Ministry of Health who will attend the workshop. Local experts and a technical task force will collaborate on building the framework. The outcome would be a complete document to be submitted to the Ministry of Health with the hopes that it is accepted and modified into law.
The workshop attendees have an important task at hand - this framework needs to be tailored to the needs of their own country. Tesfazghi reminds us that there is no universal POCT regulation in laboratory medicine. Instead, what can be universal is best practice guidelines, but these guidelines are also often created with adequate resource in mind. Participants will have to endeavor to make sure the framework is customized to fit the needs, limitations, and existing policies in Nigeria.
If the workshop is successful and the proposed framework is created and submitted, it will demonstrate that meaningful changes can be achieved despite challenging conditions and could inform ADLM’s approach of global quality initiative. It will also give ADLM an opportunity to replicate similar efforts in other countries in low-resource regions as the challenges within which the laboratories in these regions operate are broadly similar.
The workshop attendees have an important task at hand - this framework needs to be tailored to the needs of their own country. Tesfazghi reminds us that there is no universal POCT regulation in laboratory medicine. Instead, what can be universal is best practice guidelines, but these guidelines are also often created with adequate resource in mind. Participants will have to endeavor to make sure the framework is customized to fit the needs, limitations, and existing policies in Nigeria.
If the workshop is successful and the proposed framework is created and submitted, it will demonstrate that meaningful changes can be achieved despite challenging conditions and could inform ADLM’s approach of global quality initiative. It will also give ADLM an opportunity to replicate similar efforts in other countries in low-resource regions as the challenges within which the laboratories in these regions operate are broadly similar.
“Each time we conduct similar workshops, we ask ourselves: are we truly helping?” Tesfazghi says. “Our intention is to help, but how do we meaningfully measure that impact? When you think about it, we are encouraging colleagues in the region, often at the national level, to advance laboratory medicine practice using resources available to them. In that sense, the engagement itself becomes an outcome, or more accurately, a foundation for better outcome. The challenges our colleagues there face are both daunting and complex, and achieving measurable progress requires more than one partner at the table. This workshop brings almost every stockholder in Nigeria to the table to discuss one topic: POCT.”
Hard work and determination will be needed for this framework to be submitted. When we talk about quality – it takes a village to achieve and maintain it, and a leadership to rally the village.
Tesfazghi interacting with attendees at the November 2025 workshop.
Tesfazghi notes, “Education is one way to promise that, but to speak about a concrete outcome, education alone is not enough.”
Tesfazghi, Idris, and Olajumoke Oladipo, MD, DABCC, FADLM interacting with the audience at the November 2025 workshop.
It will take collective work beyond the workshop to produce the framework, and then further work from the Federal Ministry of Health to approve and enforce that guidance, and commitment from laboratory professionals and professional associations to implement it. ADLM’s Africa Subcommittee is looking forward to being the catalyst of this effort by presenting at the upcoming workshop and hopes that the participants and the country will reach the final goal.
The ADLM/ACCN workshop will be 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].