The Laboratory Field Operations Unit serves as the Program Coordination Unit of the Clinical Laboratory Services Department at the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria.
The Unit was established in 2005 to address program expansion and scale-up. It coordinates, implements, and manages laboratory activities across the supported states. The FOU Head at the Central Office works under the supervision of the Head of the Department to coordinate laboratory deliverables and collaborate with Regional and State Laboratory Program Officers to ensure quality laboratory support for diagnosing and managing people living with HIV/AIDS. A core function of the unit is liaising with laboratory thematic areas to implement activities, collect, analyze, and report all laboratory PEPFAR Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting (MER) & custom indicators.
In line with its goal of ensuring the delivery of reliable and quality patient test results, the unit also identifies and assesses the suitability of facilities for providing laboratory testing services to support patient management. This involves ensuring that laboratories meet minimum quality standards, such as having qualified and competent personnel, adequate and safe laboratory workspaces, appropriate equipment, a reliable water supply, and an efficient power source. Before activating laboratory facilities, the FOU ensures that the state and facility personnel undergo training and capacity building.
The Laboratory FOU functions in 130 clinical laboratories and 526 HIV Rapid test points with a tiered network of over 384 health facilities.
Unit contact email: [email protected]
