Policy and procedures of the WHO/NICD microbiology external quality assessment programme in Africa: years 1 to 4, 2002-2006

Overview

The WHO/NICD microbiology External Quality Assessment (EQA) programme was established as a result of the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy; a strategy adopted in 1999 by the WHO Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) to strengthen capacity for surveillance and response to priority diseases. The IDSR guidelines recommend laboratory diagnosis to confirm the nature of suspected outbreaks and guide public health response. As part of IDSR implementation, AFRO recommended the use of standard laboratory diagnostic methods for confirming priority diseases in all countries in the African Region. In an effort to monitor national laboratory capacity for implementing these standard methods, the WHO Lyon Office for National Epidemic Preparedness and Response and AFRO collaborated with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the South African National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), in Johannesburg, in the establishment of the WHO/NICD microbiology EQA programme.