In 2005, the Rwandan Ministry of Health commissioned an independent assessment of the national laboratory network to determine its status in relation to the national reference laboratory and for disease prevention programs [10] . Subsequently, in 2006, a team from WHO/AFRO, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Rwanda National Reference Laboratory (NRL) in the Ministry of Health met to review Rwanda's public health laboratory network. The intention was to use the review findings to inform guidance for other countries that would make explicit practical factors to consider when implementing a public health laboratory network.