01 June 2021 In May, the African Society for Laboratory Medicine held a webinar with support from the Global Fund to provide overall guidance on the Global Fund’s COVID-19 Response Mechanism (C19RM) to Laboratory Directorates of the continent. The meeting gathered more than 360 participants representing 64 countries. A feedback poll done during the webinar revealed that 49% of the 90 respondents were not currently engaged with Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs) to participate in the development of C19RM funding requests. The Global Fund promotes active participation of a broad range of in-country stakeholders to ensure success in the fight against COVID-19. The involvement of laboratory leadership and National Laboratory Directorates in C19RM funding request development is highly important, considering that around 15% of C19RM investments are dedicated to laboratory commodities and consumables.