{"entity":{"id":"nhls-south-africa","kind":"institution","name":"National Health Laboratory Service, South Africa","aka":["NHLS","National Health Laboratory Service"],"tldr":"The public laboratory service that does the diagnostic tests for South Africa's public hospitals and clinics, about 80 per cent of the population. It runs the National Cancer Registry, and its HIV test records have been linked to cancer records to measure cancer in people living with HIV.","summary":"The National Health Laboratory Service was established under the National Health Laboratory Service Act, 2000 (Act No. 37 of 2000). The National Cancer Registry's Ekurhuleni report for 2024 states that the service covers an estimated 80 per cent of South Africa's population through more than 200 laboratories in the nine provinces, with private laboratories such as Ampath, Pathcare and Lancet covering the rest; both send electronic reports of cancer diagnoses to the registry.\n\nRegulation R. 380 of 2011 places the National Cancer Registry under the control of the service's chief executive, who must ensure it meets the norms of the International Agency for Research on Cancer and submit an annual report to the Director-General of Health. Because one laboratory service holds most public HIV tests, the registry and its partners linked those records to cancer diagnoses in the South African HIV Cancer Match Study: 5,222,827 people living with HIV with 29,580 cancers diagnosed in 2004 to 2014. A cyberattack on the service disrupted laboratory data for 2023 and 2024, which the registry says required manual retrospective capture and slowed case confirmation.\n\nThe coordinates are approximate for Sandringham, Johannesburg, where the registry is based, not the service's head office address.","asOf":"2026-11-04","links":[{"label":"Regulations relating to cancer registration, R. 380 of 2011 (PDF)","url":"https://www.nicd.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Cancer-Registration-Regulation-380-of-National-Health-Act-no-61-of-2003.pdf"},{"label":"Ekurhuleni Population-Based Cancer Registry 2024 Report, methods (PDF)","url":"https://www.nicd.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/EPBCR_2024_Report.pdf"},{"label":"National Health Laboratory Service","url":"https://www.nhls.ac.za"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["cervical","kaposi-sarcoma"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":["national-cancer-registry-south-africa","south-africa-national-department-of-health"],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":["paper-ruffieux-age-cancer-hiv-south-africa-cid-2023","paper-metekoua-hiv-status-cancer-registry-south-africa-cancer-med-2026"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"city":"Johannesburg","country":"ZA","lat":-26.146,"lng":28.116,"institutionType":"government","website":"https://www.nhls.ac.za","programs":["Public-sector diagnostic pathology","National Cancer Registry","Laboratory HIV testing records linked to cancer records"]},"route":"/institutions/nhls-south-africa/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"cervical","kind":"cancer","name":"Cervical cancer","route":"/cancers/cervical/"},{"id":"kaposi-sarcoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Kaposi sarcoma","route":"/cancers/kaposi-sarcoma/"}],"institution":[{"id":"national-cancer-registry-south-africa","kind":"institution","name":"National Cancer Registry, South Africa","route":"/institutions/national-cancer-registry-south-africa/"},{"id":"south-africa-national-department-of-health","kind":"institution","name":"National Department of Health, South Africa","route":"/institutions/south-africa-national-department-of-health/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-ruffieux-age-cancer-hiv-south-africa-cid-2023","kind":"paper","name":"Age and Cancer Incidence in 5.2 Million People With Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV): The South African HIV Cancer Match Study","route":"/key-papers/paper-ruffieux-age-cancer-hiv-south-africa-cid-2023/"},{"id":"paper-metekoua-hiv-status-cancer-registry-south-africa-cancer-med-2026","kind":"paper","name":"Integration of HIV Status in Cancer Surveillance in South Africa: A Call for Action","route":"/key-papers/paper-metekoua-hiv-status-cancer-registry-south-africa-cancer-med-2026/"}],"person":[{"id":"mazvita-muchengeti","kind":"person","name":"Mazvita Muchengeti","route":"/people/mazvita-muchengeti/"}]}}