Launched in 2015, I-Lab in Senegal is an initiative to digitize laboratory data in Senegal. The initiative uses mobile phone technologies and web platforms to transfer epidemiological data from laboratories across Senegal, facilitating faster detection and response to biothreats and pandemics.
I-Lab in Senegal aids epidemiological surveillance in West Africa by reducing insufficient laboratory results reporting by providing automated tools for collecting laboratory data. The initiative engages public and private laboratories in Senegal to report weekly on 12 different diseases: viral hemorrhagic fevers, malaria, schistosomiasis, meningitis, yellow fever, shigellosis, cholera, poliomyelitis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), sexually transmitted infections (STIs), measles, and tuberculosis. When piloted, the automated mobile reporting system successfully returned complete, timely, and quality data. I-Lab is currently being integrated in 120 laboratories across Senegal.
