L A N C E T L A B O R AT O R I E S
LANCET LABORATORIES
Peerless Pathology Services for All Africa PRODUCTION: Timothy Reeder
Operating in the private healthcare environment, Lancet Laboratories offers specialist pathology services for the corporate, insurance and mining sectors. Headed up by a team of nearly 100 specialist pathologists, Lancet processes almost two million tests per month and offers an extensive range of pathology services, from sophisticated molecular and cytogenetic investigations to advanced chemical analyses. 2 / www.enterprise-africa.net
INDUSTRY FOCUS: HEALTHCARE
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Lancet Laboratories is among the leading pathology laboratories operating throughout Africa, providing vital diagnostic and monitoring services in South Africa, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Established more than 60 years ago in the heart of Johannesburg’s central business district, Lancet Laboratories pairs a primary focus on pairing high quality, cutting edge pathology services with clientcentred, efficient turnaround times. “A key Lancet Laboratories hallmark is its continuous growth and development,” the company describes. Its team of pathologists, each with their own area of expertise, lead the service, not only to ensure the quality and validity
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of investigations but also to offer consultative services to physicians, managed healthcare institutions, the occupational health environment and the insurance industry sectors. Such growth and progress has propelled Lancet Laboratories from its contented base within South Africa to its current position enjoying operations in 12 countries in Southern, East and West Africa. “Lancet Laboratories is committed to providing diagnostic excellence,” Lancet Laboratories sums up. “This, together with its important role and responsibility to provide specialist pathology services and infrastructure to support the fight against the key health issues affecting our continent, makes Lancet Laboratories the optimal partner for anyone seeking pathology and diagnostic services in Africa.”
LESOTHO MEDITECH EXPANSION The small, mountainous country of Lesotho within southern Africa is home to approximately two million people. The region faces many risks to public health due to low coverage of essential public health services and ailing institutions. “While Lesotho’s Government continues to invest heavily in healthcare infrastructure, the sector experiences a variety of challenges, which are exacerbated by the country’s topography and the isolation of many rural areas where the majority of the population resides,” said the Lesotho Review. “This represents a significant access barrier to both healthcare personnel and patients.” Lancet Laboratories is doing all it can to improve the situation, though, and to help achieve Universal Health Coverage for all of Basotho by 2030.
LANCET LABORATORIES
In partnership with MEDITECH South Africa (MTSA), Lancet Laboratories recently implemented the integrated software solutions provider’s core laboratory and administrative modules at its Lesotho branch. In December last year, with much of South Africa winding down as the festive season hit, the MTSA teams chose rather to begin the execution of the system set-up, and were able to pass over a functional LIVE environment to Lancet Laboratories in January 2019 for final testing and verification; Go-LIVE was achieved on 1 February 2019. MTSA has provided integrated software solutions to healthcare organisations throughout Africa and the Middle East for over 37 years, and strives to be the preferred business partner in delivering effective long-term solutions and services through its enviable local knowledge and experience. With its broad reach throughout Africa, meanwhile, Lancet Laboratories is able to offer faster and more efficient turn-around times to more patients and their doctors, offering crucial specialist pathology services to Africa’s population in support of the fight against HIV, tuberculosis and other key health issues affecting the continent. SUPER CERBA MERGER In a move aimed at strengthening the provision of effective, evidencebased healthcare across Africa, at the turn of the year Lancet Laboratories announced that it would merge operations with its leading counterpart in Europe, Cerba HealthCare. The partnership sees Lancet join a plethora of laboratories which make up Cerba’s international network, which combine to offer a comprehensive solution in the field of biological diagnosis from the sample centre to the specialities laboratory. With headquarters in Paris and over 6,300 employees, Cerba Healthcare operates a network of
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INDUSTRY FOCUS: HEALTHCARE
laboratories and technical facilities which span the whole of Europe, centred primarily in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy and which serve more than 50 countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Additionally, it operates a central lab testing for clinical trials for pharmaceutical and biotech industries and for diagnostic trials as well as veterinary and genetics.
// LANCET LABORATORIES IS COMMITTED TO PROVIDING DIAGNOSTIC EXCELLENCE //
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The newly-formed Cerba Lancet Africa represents a Joint Venture which will serve millions of healthcare professionals and patients throughout Africa, providing internationallyaccredited, high-quality pathology services for the prompt and precise diagnosis of a wide variety of illnesses and their effective management. Cerba Lancet Africa will now manage a network of the more than 100 laboratories previously owned by Lancet, spanning 11 African countries including Kenya and with over 1,400 employees serving more than 1.3 million patients a year, generating over Sh5 billion in turnover in 2018. The joint venture is set to cover operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Botswana, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Lancet’s
operations in the Republic of South Africa, home of its founding base and headquarters, will however not form part of the JV. “Lancet’s brand will be retained in all countries where Lancet Group of Laboratories are already operating, including in Kenya where it is incorporated as Pathologists Lancet Kenya (PLK) and operates 38 labs and service points across the country, with Lancet Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda as PLK’s subsidiaries,” the joint statement went on to explain. The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) approve the terms of the new JV in December 2018, to effect the takeover of Lancet Laboratories South Africa’s shareholding while retaining the local shareholder Dr Ahmed Kalebi. The transaction met the threshold for exclusion specified
LANCET LABORATORIES
// WE ARE DELIGHTED TO PARTNER WITH CERBA HEALTHCARE AND ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO EXPANDING OUR EFFORTS TOGETHER AND WORKING TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH OF AFRICAN CITIZENS // in the Mergers Threshold Guidelines under the CAK Act. “Our common goal is to develop medical services in regions where we are already present and to expand into other countries,” said Jérôme Thill, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Cerba HealthCare. “Alongside our partner Lancet Laboratories, we are also planning an ambitious investment programme to offer innovative services in clinical pathology that meet the needs of patients, health professionals and
healthcare organisations, alongside businesses across the continent.” Peter Cole, CEO of Lancet Laboratories, went on to express his delight at what the partnership will bring to the continent on which Lancet Laboratories has made such great strides over its history. “The broad expertise of both our groups, Cerba HealthCare, a leader in clinical pathology in Europe, and Lancet, a leader in clinical pathology in South Africa, coupled with our respective knowledge of the African
continent across very different and complementary territories, will be real strengths for our joint venture,” he enthused. “We are delighted to partner with Cerba HealthCare and are looking forward to expanding our efforts together and working to improve the health of African citizens.”
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Published by CMB Media Group Chris Bolderstone – General Manager E. chris@cmb-media.co.uk Rouen House, Rouen Rd, Norwich NR1 1RB T. +44 (0) 1603 855 161 E. info@cmb-media.co.uk www.cmb-media.co.uk CMB Media Group does not accept responsibility for omissions or errors. The points of view expressed in articles by attributing writers and/ or in advertisements included in this magazine do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained within this magazine, no legal responsibility will be accepted by the publishers for loss arising from use of information published. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored in a retrievable system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher. Š CMB Media Group Ltd 2019
AS FEAT UR ED IN
ENTERPRISE AFRICA
SEPT EMBER 2019