Uganda’s laboratory community came together on 3rd-08-2026 at Hotel Africana, Kampala, for a high-level joint meeting organised by the National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory (NTRL) and the Central Public Health Laboratories (CPHL) – two of Uganda’s most critical institutions under the Ministry of Health Laboratory Department.

The meeting brought together laboratory professionals, programme managers, and health officials to review progress, align strategies, and strengthen coordination across Uganda’s national laboratory network.

A Meeting of Minds at the Heart of Uganda’s Health System

The Ministry of Health Laboratory Department sits at the core of Uganda’s public health infrastructure. NTRL and CPHL, as the apex institutions within this department, play complementary roles — NTRL focusing on tuberculosis diagnostics, external quality assessment, and TB laboratory training, while CPHL coordinates broader public health laboratory services across the country.

Yesterday’s joint meeting created a rare and valuable space for both institutions to share updates, discuss operational challenges, align on national laboratory priorities, and chart a coordinated path forward for strengthening laboratory services delivery across all levels of Uganda’s health system.

Key Areas of Discussion

The meeting covered a wide range of priorities central to Uganda’s laboratory strengthening agenda including:

• Review of laboratory quality management systems and accreditation progress
• Coordination of external quality assessment programmes across public health laboratories
• Updates on new diagnostic technologies and their rollout across facilities
• Human resource capacity building and training pipelines
• Data management and laboratory information systems
• Partnership coordination with international organisations supporting Uganda’s laboratory network

Collaboration as a Cornerstone of Quality

What makes meetings like this significant is not just the agenda; it is what they represent. When Uganda’s leading laboratory institutions sit together in the same room, share data openly, and align on priorities, the impact flows directly to the laboratory technician in Gulu processing a TB sample, the patient in Mbarara waiting for an accurate diagnosis, and the programme manager in Kampala making evidence-based decisions.

Laboratory systems do not strengthen in isolation. They strengthen through collaboration, through shared accountability, and through the kind of deliberate coordination that yesterday’s meeting embodied.

Moving Forward Together

NTRL and CPHL remain committed to working together and with all partners across Uganda’s health system to ensure that every laboratory in the country has the capacity, the quality systems, and the support it needs to deliver accurate, timely, and reliable results.

The Ministry of Health Laboratory Department continues to provide the strategic leadership that makes this coordination possible.

For more information about NTRL’s laboratory services and training programmes, contact us at info@ntrl.or.ug | info@ntrl.or.ug or call our toll-free line 0800-100-066.