GLOBAL HEALTH
In Zambia, Lab Mentor Tackles Viral Load Testing
By Jade Campbell, intern, Communications
Milimo Delhan Hamomba
serves as APHL’s senior
laboratory mentor for Lusaka
Province in Zambia. He works
with provincial viral load
laboratories to strengthen
the sample referral system
between satellite facilities,
facility hubs and central
testing sites. In addition, he helps laboratories
to implement quality management systems in
line with ISO 15189, attends technical working
group meetings, and analyzes and disseminates
laboratory data to stakeholders for policy and
decision making.
Early in his career, Hamomba worked
for Ministry of Health at the Livingstone
Central Hospital Pathology and Biochemistry
Laboratory as a biomedical scientist in
charge of the Molecular Biology Section and
later as laboratory manager. He then joined
Family Health International (FHI360) under
Management Sciences for Health MSH where
he worked as a senior provincial laboratory
technical advisor for Copperbelt and North-
Western provinces on Zambia Prevention Care
and Treatment, an HIV prevention project.
When that project came to a close, he became
the laboratory strengthening specialist in
Luapula Province for the Eradicate TB Project
under USAID/PATH.
Hamomba holds a BS in Biomedical Laboratory
Sciences/Laboratory Medicine from the
University of Zambia and is pursuing a MPH
from the University of Lusaka part-time. He
has completed the Laboratory Leadership
and Management course sponsored by the
International Education Center for Health
(I-TECH), CDC and the Zambia Ministry of
Health at the University of Washington. He
has trained in molecular diagnostics, viral load
testing, early infant diagnosis, tuberculosis
testing, quality management systems and
malaria case detection.
What are the day to day tasks of a
laboratory mentor?
My responsibilities are broad. As the onsite
laboratory mentor, I assist with viral load
and early infant diagnosis management
and developing management and technical
procedures. I provide training in quality
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LAB MATTERS Winter 2019
management systems, logistics and supply,
distribution of equipment, utilization of lab
consumables and other topics as needed.
I also support the laboratory information
system and map health facilities in the
geographical information system. Then
there is administrative work for APHL’s
Zambia office: reports, feedback on quality
improvement projects and meetings with
provincial officials and APHL country office
staff. Because I am located in Lusaka, I
also assist other mentors with laboratory
logistics in CDC-supported provinces. Weaknesses
What were your expectations for the
position? Increasing efficiency of lab operations
by achieving maximum outputs with
minimal inputs. I enjoy traveling to other
laboratories to have a face to face chat with
staff and hear their challenges first hand.
I also enjoy sharing our successes with
stakeholders, particularly our strides in
meeting the UNAIDS set targets.
I expected the position to require tasks
outside my job description as a mentor,
problem solving skills and demands to
meet organizational goals, objectives
and deliverables. I thought it would
provide me with tools for personal growth
while pushing me to expand my frame
of reference to be able to undertake
assignments outside my comfort zone.
With APHL on board, the laboratories
I support have greatly improved
performance in viral load and early infant
diagnosis. Our strength lies in our fine staff
and our weaknesses in administration,
management and infrastructure.
• Dedicated staff with a positive mindset
who are eager to learn and willing to
work as a team
• Motivation and a strong sense of
belonging
• Determination to achieve goals and
deliverables
• Clearly defined individual work plans
• Strong performance management to
maximize staff efficiency
• Infrastructure: most laboratories do not
have enough space to work effectively
• Inconsistent supply of laboratory
reagents and consumables
• Poor management and leadership style
in some instances
What is your favorite part of
your job?
What attracted you to
public health?
What are your laboratory’s strengths
and weaknesses?
Strengths
• Challenges with Human Resources
I was attracted by the broad perspective
of public health which looks at population
levels. In my work as a mentor, I find it
works best when public health and clinical
health are integrated. I was also interested
in risk factors and associated outcomes
and how to prevent disease when
conducting surveillance and research.
Lastly, I wanted to improve people’s
overall wellness through health promotion
activities such as behavior change and
reducing exposure to risks.
What makes this work meaningful to
you?
Improving a person’s well-being by
providing quality, reliable laboratory results
for better case management. Specifically, I
can increase the suppression rate and case
detection in adults and children living with
HIV, allowing them to have meaningful,
productive lives and contribute to social,
economic and financial development. I
also value the opportunity to advance
technical efficiency and effectiveness
and to measure performance using APHL
resources. n
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