Better Labs for Better Health – strengthening laboratory systems in the WHO European Region. Progress report 2016–2017 (2018)

Recognizing that laboratory services are an underlying necessity both for strengthening the health care system as a whole and for protecting the health of a country’s population, WHO/Europe launched the Better Labs for Better Health initiative in 2012 to support the improvement of laboratory services in Member States in eastern Europe and central Asia and, in particular, to build the capacities to prevent, detect and respond to outbreaks as required under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR).

This report describes Better Labs for Better Health’s results during 2016–2017 and gives a brief overview of the priorities for 2018–2019.

It is an update on the first activity report for the period 2013–2015 and the report on the second partners’ meeting held in Tbilisi, Georgia 1–2 December 2016.