Difference between revisions of "Public health laboratory"
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A public health laboratory is unlike the average commercial laboratory because it is "integrated into the broader public health system."<ref name="PHLJenkins" /> The public health laboratory must typically meet more stringent requirements, including adhering to the [[Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments]] (CLIA) (for labs in the United States) as well as regulations laid out by the departments, agencies, and other regulatory bodies of local, state, and/or national governments. Finally, the private [[Clinical laboratory|medical laboratory]] focuses on tests focused on diagnosing the diseases of individuals, while the functions of the public health laboratory serve entire populations.<ref name="PHLJenkins" /><ref name="PHANovick" /> | A public health laboratory is unlike the average commercial laboratory because it is "integrated into the broader public health system."<ref name="PHLJenkins" /> The public health laboratory must typically meet more stringent requirements, including adhering to the [[Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments]] (CLIA) (for labs in the United States) as well as regulations laid out by the departments, agencies, and other regulatory bodies of local, state, and/or national governments. Finally, the private [[Clinical laboratory|medical laboratory]] focuses on tests focused on diagnosing the diseases of individuals, while the functions of the public health laboratory serve entire populations.<ref name="PHLJenkins" /><ref name="PHANovick" /> | ||
==Organization and | ==Organization, support, and regulation== | ||
===In the United States=== | ===In the United States=== | ||
====Organization==== | |||
At the national level, public health laboratories are often embedded in federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). These labs often assist state and local labs with outbreaks, special testing, training, and guidance.<ref name="PHANovick" /><ref name="APHLAbout" /> | |||
At the state level, public health laboratories are typically organized in one of three ways: within a state health department, within or affiliated with a university, or as a consolidated laboratory within another state agency. Regardless of organization, the laboratories are part of both a state public health system and a national public health network. Information from the laboratories may trickle down to the local level, move up to the national level, or be shared with other entities at the state level. State labs most often work with national entities like the CDC, while local labs most often coordinate with state labs.<ref name="PHANovick" /><ref name="APHLAbout" /> | |||
At the local level, public health laboratories are almost always organized within city or county health departments, and they distribute laboratory-based disease reports and related specimens to state counterparts. Local units may appear in large cities and often rival state-level public health labs in size, complexity, and services.<ref name="PHANovick" /><ref name="APHLAbout" /> | |||
====Funding==== | |||
In 2002, unpublished survey data from the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) showed 50 percent of funding of public health laboratories came from states, 33 percent from fee-for-service transactions, and 15 percent from the federal government. Funding at this time trended away from the states and towards fee-for-service transactions, with federal funding remaining study but with evidence to support the idea of increased funding in the future.<ref name="PH21" /> | |||
===Internationally=== | ===Internationally=== | ||
Revision as of 23:53, 11 September 2013
A public health laboratory is a laboratory that serves regional, national, or in some cases global communities by providing clinical diagnostic testing, environmental testing, disease diagnosis and evaluation, emergency response support, applied research, regulation and standards recommendations, laboratory training, and other essential services to the communities they serve.[1][2][3][4]
A public health laboratory is unlike the average commercial laboratory because it is "integrated into the broader public health system."[1] The public health laboratory must typically meet more stringent requirements, including adhering to the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) (for labs in the United States) as well as regulations laid out by the departments, agencies, and other regulatory bodies of local, state, and/or national governments. Finally, the private medical laboratory focuses on tests focused on diagnosing the diseases of individuals, while the functions of the public health laboratory serve entire populations.[1][4]
Organization, support, and regulation
In the United States
Organization
At the national level, public health laboratories are often embedded in federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). These labs often assist state and local labs with outbreaks, special testing, training, and guidance.[4][3]
At the state level, public health laboratories are typically organized in one of three ways: within a state health department, within or affiliated with a university, or as a consolidated laboratory within another state agency. Regardless of organization, the laboratories are part of both a state public health system and a national public health network. Information from the laboratories may trickle down to the local level, move up to the national level, or be shared with other entities at the state level. State labs most often work with national entities like the CDC, while local labs most often coordinate with state labs.[4][3]
At the local level, public health laboratories are almost always organized within city or county health departments, and they distribute laboratory-based disease reports and related specimens to state counterparts. Local units may appear in large cities and often rival state-level public health labs in size, complexity, and services.[4][3]
Funding
In 2002, unpublished survey data from the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) showed 50 percent of funding of public health laboratories came from states, 33 percent from fee-for-service transactions, and 15 percent from the federal government. Funding at this time trended away from the states and towards fee-for-service transactions, with federal funding remaining study but with evidence to support the idea of increased funding in the future.[2]
Internationally
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) has supported and expanded the needed skills and infrastructure for world governments to better detect, investigate, and report public health threats. Public health laboratories and/or governments around the world have been targeted by WHO with at least three different programs:
- Health Laboratory Strengthening: strengthen national laboratory systems; support quality laboratory system implementations; improve networking between public health labs and surveillance and response systems; increase domestic testing capacity; support laboratory workforce development[5]
- Biosafety and Laboratory Biosecurity: promote the advancement of biorisk management, including biosafety and laboratory biosecurity; provide tools to better protect people in and around laboratory environments; promote a culture towards responsible biorisk management worldwide[6]
- Laboratory Twinning Initiative: "strengthen laboratory capacity through the establishment of twinning projects between resource limited laboratories and specialized institutions"[7]
Association of Public Health Laboratories
Though primarily a U.S.-based association, the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) has a Global Health Program that aids resource-strapped countries with[8][9]:
- building national laboratory networks
- implementing laboratory training programs
- planning and managing renovation projects
- implementing laboratory information systems
- procuring laboratory equipment and supplies
- providing advanced training to senior laboratory professionals
The APHL and its Global Health Program are also partners in the WHO's Laboratory Twinning Initiative.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Becker, Scott; Perlman, Eva J.; Jenkins, Wiley (ed.) (2010). "Chapter 1: An Introduction to Public Health Laboratories". Public Health Laboratories: Analysis, Operations, and Management. Jones & Bartlett Learning. pp. 01–14. ISBN 0763771023. http://books.google.com/books?id=6SDqL72zPRUC.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Committee on Assuring the Health of the Public in the 21st Century, Board on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (2003). "Chapter 3: The Governmental Public Health Structure". The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century. National Academies Press. pp. 136–146. ISBN 0309133181. http://books.google.com/books?id=qa8XYZQprt0C.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "About Public Health Labs". Association of Public Health Laboratories. http://www.aphl.org/AboutAPHL/aboutphls/Pages/default.aspx. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Becker, Scott J.; Blank, Eric C.; Martin, Robert; Skeels, Michael; Novick, Lloyd F. (ed.); Mays, Glen P. (ed.) (2005). "Chapter 27: Public Health Laboratory Administration". Public Health Administration: Principles for Population-based Management. Jones & Bartlett Learning. pp. 623–627. ISBN 0763740780. http://books.google.com/books?id=bFBPMcQe6ogC.
- ↑ "Health laboratory strengthening". World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/ihr/lyon/hls/en/index.html. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
- ↑ "Biosafety and laboratory biosecurity". World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/ihr/biosafety/en/index.html. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
- ↑ "Laboratory Twinning Initiative". World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/ihr/lyon/twinning/en/index.html. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
- ↑ "Global Health - About Us". Association of Public Health Laboratories. http://www.aphl.org/aphlprograms/global/aboutus/pages/default.aspx. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
- ↑ "APHL's vision statement: A healthier world through quality lab practice". Medical Laboratory Observer. December 2009. http://www.mlo-online.com/articles/200912/aphls-vision-statement-a-healthier-world-through-quality-lab-practice.php. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
