Health care is a significant part of any country´s economy, with accessibility to quality healthcare being fundamental to economic growth. Provision of healthcare services, and safeguarding the well-being of the population is recognized in the sustainable development goals (SDGs) as crucial in ensuring the continued development of a country. There are many challenges facing the The Gambian healthcare sector that include but are not limited to: (i) lack of the necessary legislation or proper enforcement mechanisms to protect the population from certain health hazards, (ii) limited resources to setup fully equipped infrastructure with regular provision of supplies, reagents, and test kits for better health outcomes and, (iii) shortage of skilled personnel to carry out quality technical work. All these deficiencies lead to a lack of proper internationally acceptable quality control standards
and mechanisms in the country’s healthcare infrastructure, which has serious negative consequences for the population. In The Gambia currently, there are very few laboratories where reliable laboratory diagnostic tests could be carried out. Conversation with many senior clinicians in the Healthcare sector (both public and private), revealed that they generally have serious concerns about the reliability of laboratory test results they receive and, on which they rely to diagnose and prescribe drug treatments for their patients. Doctors are guided by laboratory test results to make proper clinical diagnosis and prescribe the right pharmaceutical drugs to help their patients have a better outcome and recover from their disease condition. Without accurate laboratory test results and reliable clinical diagnosis, doctors will be severely handicapped in their work and will most probably resort to guessing the disease type and stage of their patients. That is indeed a very unsatisfactory situation for any population to be in. Diagnostic imaging forms a key component in modern health care, playing a vital role in the diagnosis and prognostication of disease as well as in monitoring response to treatment. The condition of radiological diagnostic capability in the country is probably even worse. There are apparently only a few functional Computed Axial Tomography (CAT/CT) scans for a population of over two million. The demand for this service is in such short supply that patients travel to neighboring Senegal to seek diagnosis and treatment. This is completely unacceptable for it to continue, given the pain, suffering and financial costs Gambian patients incur on such trips. The problems outlined above concerning The Gambian Healthcare Sector are very serious and require immediate attention to drastically reduce or even eliminate their negative impacts on society and the economy at large. It is precisely because of these reasons that CBACS came into being. We have entered the diagnostic scene, joining those already in it, to assure the population of the delivery of quality laboratory service for improved health outcomes. CBACS is committed to providing a service of the highest quality and is aware of and takes into consideration the needs and requirements of its users. Laboratory work is carried out on up-to-date equipment which meet all applicable requirements of a quality management system. All procedures for equipment and/or analyser platforms used, and performance characteristics of tests undertaken, are documented on Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure standardization. CBACS started operations on 1st September 2022, initially offering laboratory diagnostic and screening services in biochemistry and haematology. We have since added other biomedical sciences disciplines, such as microbiology and immunology and, have plans to be providing imaging services.