The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has approved Pathologists Lancet Kenya to carry out blood analysis, meaning that blood samples will no longer have to be transported to South Africa or Europe for analysis. ‘The practice was expensive and posed serious logistical constraints for the samples to be analysed within the required time frames’, read a statement from the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), which funded the establishment of the Laboratory. 

However, the Nairobi Laboratory is not accredited for urine analysis, a WADA spokesperson confirmed. As WADA revoked the accreditation of South Africa’s Bloemfontein Laboratory in June 2017, this means that any urine samples collected in Africa must be sent outside of the continent for analysis. African anti-doping authorities have typically been sending samples to the WADA-accredited Doha Laboratory for processing.