Roche partners with Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre and Philipps-University Marburg on a Centre of Excellence for diagnostics

Tanzania: Roche has announced a collaboration with Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) and Philipps-Universität Marburg to improve diagnostic infrastructure and capacity in Moshi, Tanzania.

The Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) co-financed the three-year collaboration with funds provided by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The collaboration aims to establish a cutting-edge diagnostics centre of excellence at KCMC by driving sustainable capacity building, infrastructure optimization, and the establishment of the necessary skill sets to meet local needs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of diagnostics in future-proofing health systems. This project is a step toward establishing a laboratory facility that will provide reliable and timely diagnostics for infectious diseases such as SARS-CoV-2, tuberculosis, and HIV, as well as non-communicable diseases such as diabetes.

The Centre of Excellence for Diagnostics will improve disease management and build local capacity to meet Moshi's changing healthcare needs.

“Diagnostic testing is a fundamental component in disease prevention and management. With a history of over 70 years in Africa, Roche is uniquely positioned to offer expertise in diagnostics infrastructure, systems optimization and process harmonization. These are critical to scale up testing in Africa and ultimately provide patients with improved quality of life”, says Allan Pamba, Africa Network Lead, Roche Diagnostics.

KCMC will be able to provide improved diagnostics with a broader range of lab tests, including those previously sent abroad, and shorter turnaround times for lab results as a result of this project.

Capacity building will also be supported by the training of laboratory scientists, technologists, phlebotomists, and biomedical engineers.

“Non-communicable diseases are the second health burden (after infectious diseases) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). More people die of cardiovascular, pulmonary disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and cancers in SSA than in the northern hemisphere. Laboratory diagnostics is an important pillar in identifying these patients early, monitoring their treatments and developing preventive strategies. The new Centre of Excellence will provide a novel solution to help tackling this important global health problem in northern Tanzania and beyond”, says Prof. Dr. Harald Renz, Director Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Philipps-University Marburg and President of the German Society of Laboratory Medicine (DGKL).

“Germany has a longstanding government-to-government cooperation with Tanzania in the health sector, particularly on mother-child care. I am glad, that we can add today a public-private partnership with Roche, financed through the DEG, a subsidiary of KfW development bank, that will boost laboratory capacities at KCMC in Moshi, a leading hospital in the country,” says Mrs Regine Hess, German Ambassador to Tanzania.

The new Centre of Excellence for Diagnostics will integrate and harmonize all clinical, research and teaching laboratories and facilities under one roof.

This is in tandem with the availability of a broad state-of-the-art repertoire, as well as tests and instrumentation, which is unprecedented in Sub-Saharan Africa's northern region.

The new centre will create and implement a new training and capacity-building model for the next generation of doctors, scientists, and technicians.