Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Nov 7;1(1):39.
doi: 10.4102/ajlm.v1i1.39. eCollection 2012.

The World Health Organization African region external quality assessment scheme for anti-HIV serology

Fatim Cham  1 , Mahlatse Maleka  2 , Martin Masango  2 , Emma Goetsch  2 , El H Belabbes  1 , Beverley Singh  2 , Guy M Gershy-Damet  1 , Adrian Puren  2   3
Affiliations

The World Health Organization African region external quality assessment scheme for anti-HIV serology

Fatim Cham et al. Afr J Lab Med. .

Abstract

A regional external quality assessment scheme (REQAS) for anti-HIV serology aimed to objectively assess reliability and quality of HIV testing processes in the African region. This involved the distribution of proficiency testing (PT) panels to participating laboratories from 2002 to 2010. During the survey period, this included 16 distributions of PT panels to 49 laboratories in 30 countries, and the overall average score during the nine-year survey period was 98.9%, with a frequency of accurate detection, of anti-HIV-1 and/or anti-HIV-2 antibodies in the PT panels, ranging from 93% to 100%. Problems highlighted included lack of human resources and frequent stock outs of test kits, reagents and consumables for routine HIV testing. The design of the REQAS allowed appraisal of the reliability of anti-HIV serological testing methods utilised by laboratories for clinical assessment of patients and/or surveillance programmes. The REQAS was able to demonstrate that laboratories participating in the REQAS performed well and sustained their participation in the scheme. This bodes well for clinical diagnosis, surveillance and training activities at these reference laboratories.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationship(s) which may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this paper. Views expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors and not of WHO AFRO.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Platforms used by participating laboratories to test the proficiency testing panels 2002-2010.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Countries currently participating in the WHO/REQAS for anti-HIV serology.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Summary of EQA results for the survey period during 2002–2010.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Coefficient of variation (%) of EQA results during the survey period (2002–2010).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Warner-Smith M, Rugg D, Frescura L, Moussavi S. Monitoring the 2001 Declaration of commitment on HIV/AIDS. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. December 2009;52 Suppl 2:S77-86. - PubMed
    1. Birx D, de Souza M, Nkengasong JN. Laboratory challenges in the scaling up of HIV, TB, and malaria programs: The interaction of health and laboratory systems, clinical research, and service delivery. Am J Clin Pathol. 2009;131(6):849-851. - PubMed
    1. Burnett D. ISO 15189:2003: Quality management, evaluation and continual improvement. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2006;44(6):733-739. - PubMed
    1. Gershy-Damet GM, Rotz P, Cross D, et al. . The World Health Organization African region laboratory accreditation process: improving the quality of laboratory systems in the African region. Am J Clin Pathol. 2010;134(3):393-400. - PubMed
    1. Guzel O, Guner EI. ISO 15189 accreditation: Requirements for quality and competence of medical laboratories, experience of a laboratory I. Clin Biochem. Mar 2009;42(4-5):274-278. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources