EQA Sample Production Training in Ethiopia

During the week of April 8^th-12^th, Oneworld Accuracy traveled to the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) in Addis Ababa to train EPHI Bacteriology and Capacity Building staff on EQA Sample Production (EQASP). During the week, Dr Michael A Noble and Dr Jean-Frederic Flandin trained 9 laboratory scientists in the preparation of simulated bacteriology EQA samples that mimics clinical samples in order to better evaluate the Ethiopian laboratories in processing and identifying clinical samples.

The training included practical sessions on the manufacturing and quality control steps necessary to ensure good quality EQA samples. It also included many discussions on the preparation of samples and on how to ensure quality throughout the EQA cycle, from planning to evaluation. Staff learned to produce simulated urine, sputum, wound swabs, throat swabs, stool, and Gram slides with a background of epithelial cells and red blood cells. Furthermore, staff were trained on the importance of the microbiology advisory board for the supervision of the EQA challenges, on the selection of appropriate microorganisms for the challenges and on how to prepare realistic clinical case histories.

The training also included online training on the management of EQA using OASYS, Sales Console and the REP Console for the evaluation of the bacteriology EQA. After successfully completing the one-week training, EPHI has many practice runs and pilot runs in order to be ready for their first official test event planned for October 2019.