Welcome to the website of the Section of Laboratory Immunology (SLI) of the Czech Society for Allergology and Clinical Immunology, which is a member of the Czech Medical Society of J. E. Purkynje.
The SLI was founded in 1994 as a part of the Czech Society of Allergy and ClinicalImmunology (ČSAKI). Over the years, the SLI has grown and currently has more than 200 members as of 2022. Membership in ČSAKI is a prerequisite for membership in the section. SLI members (like ČSAKI members) elect a seven-member committee to four years terms. The current committee membership and other information can be found on this website.
A brief history of the SLI.
The formation of the SLI was prompted by the need to coordinate the activities of laboratoryimmunologists who, to the best of their ability, worked in various and often changing orparallel working groups to address the many issues that the early 1990s brought. To name a few: standardisation of laboratory tests, establishment of a branch reference laboratory, accreditation, postgraduate training, external quality control and of course the “Tariff” (List ofmedical procedures with point values). These activities have been important in maintainingawareness of the existence of immunological laboratory diagnostics as an integral part of thefield of allergy and clinical immunology. However, there was a distinct lack of coordination, linkage to the professional society committee and thus the possibility of an effective outcomeof this activity. In the early 1990s, the ČSAKI committee was focused almost exclusively on clinical (and especially allergological) issues in the field.
The main goals and objectives of the SLI
The SLI was formed primarily to help advocate for the duality of allergy and clinicalimmunology as a field with specific clinical and laboratory components.
Within the ČSAKI, the SLI is the guarantor of specialty 813 for the “Tariff” and allnegotiations with health care payers. The SLI representatives participate in conciliationmeetings where they submit new procedures for approval. This allows the SLI to activelycontribute to the expansion of laboratory immunology diagnostics.
The SLI provides professional guarantee of the external quality control system that iscurrently in use. This system was included as an integral part of the field in 1996 thanks to theSLI initiative and is continuously being developed.
The SLI is actively involved in postgraduate training. It was one of the initiators of therequirement for the introduction of higher proffessional education (VOŠ) for medicallaboratory technicians. The SLI also initiated the formation of the Laboratory TechniciansSection of the professional society and continues to work very closely with it.
Regarding the integration of various laboratory disciplines, the SLI is of the opinion that thecurrent education in various clinical disciplines with a laboratory component does not allowan easy integration even for the needs of basic laboratory diagnostics. In large health care institutions, the possible integration of laboratory disciplines means mainly horizontalcooperation of specialists with the appropriate postgraduate certification – under oneorganisational and technical leadership.
The SLI ČSAKI Committee believes that the activities of the Section thus far confirm thecorrectness of the decision to coordinate laboratory immunological diagnostics within theČSAKI. In the future, the SLI appreciates any suggestions for further work in the field.