A collection of over 100 procedures and manufacturing recipes for the production of simple basic reagents for health laboratory services. Prepared by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, the manual aims to encourage the local production of reagents and thus help countries reduce their dependence on foreign sources.

The book has ten chapters. The first two offer guidance on the essential equipment and procedures needed in a production unit for laboratory reagents. Information ranges from advice on the safe disposal of chemicals, through a review of methods for purifying water, to a drawing illustrating the correct assembly of equipment for the preparation of standard buffers. The remaining chapters, which constitute the core of the manual, describe production procedures in the following areas:
·Reagents and methods for clinical chemistry
·Reagents for dry chemistry tests for urine and stool analysis
·Reagents and methods for hematology and coagulation
·Stains for hematology, microbiology and parasitology
·Quality assurance and quality control of ingredients for microbiological culture media
·Reagents for microbiology
·Reagents for immunology

Annexed to the manual is an example of a manufacturing recipe for albumin reagent, followed by lists showing the names and addresses of useful organizations and companies supplying chemicals and biochemicals.