Laboratory businesses in Zambia

This section gives you information where you can get details of ongoing experiments, research and blood tests. These laboratories include chemical and medical providing facilities. Listed here is the different laboratories found in Zambia and the equipment and supplies they offer. Laboratories serve patients and their doctors, other laboratories, clinics, hospitals, corporate groups, insurances, research and occupational health establishments. The range of routine specialized and referral services includes histology, cytology, haematology and coagulation, chemistry microbiology, molecular pathology. This category also includes suppliers of laboratory chemicals and supplies and laboratory equipment for the mining, chemical, and material processing industries in Zambia.

What is a laboratory?

A laboratory is that area where testing, research, innovations are tried, tested and validated before it reaches the market. It is the second house of lab technicians, researchers and scientists, where they perform experiments to develop new drugs, chemicals, study various types of living cells and DNA. They also perform other functions, such as quality control or the optimisation of certain processes prior to their industrial implementation.

Types of laboratories in Zambia

In Zambia, there are a variety of laboratory types, each of which is specifically designed and suited to the type of tests or research to be carried out, according to both the objective and needs of the technicians with scientific expertise they have.

Medical laboratories

Also known as clinical laboratories, medical laboratories are those that analyse various biological samples, such as blood or urine, to assist in the diagnosis, treatment and / or prevention of certain diseases.

In medical laboratories, the search for scientific knowledge is not usually the priority. They are usually powers linked to health services where science is applied to improve the quality of treatment for patients. Several specialisations within the medical laboratories, depending on their object of study. Examples include but are not limited to:

• Microbiological analyses, for the detection of pathogens
• Biochemical analyses, e.g. to monitor blood composition
• Molecular diagnostics, such as analysis of patients’ DNA
• Analysis of reproduction, typical in fertility clinics, for example controlling gametas such as spermatozoa.

Biosafety laboratories

In biological research, especially that dealing with bacteria and viruses, there is a need to work with pathogens that could pose a serious risk to public health if they leave the laboratory environment and come into contact with the rest of the population.

These laboratories or research sites are equipped and constructed for the specific purpose of avoiding the dangerous contamination that could occur in the course of research

Quality control laboratories

Here, products and materials are tested against conformity to specifications and the absence of impurities. These laboratories form an essential component within the production and the supply chain.