CDC Vietnam earns first prize on TB laboratory management poster presentation

From left to right: Mr. Nguyen Giang Son (FIND consultant, EXPAND-TB project); Ms. Khieu Thi Thuy Ngoc (Coordinator of CDC-NTP CoAg); Ms.Yen Nguyen Thi Hoang (FIND consultant, Project Assistant for CDC CoAg project); and Dr. Hoang Thi Quynh Tran (Laboratory Program Officer, CDC Vietnam)

The first prize was awarded to a poster on TB Laboratory Management prepared jointly by CDC Vietnam, the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), Integrated Quality Laboratory Systems (IQLS). The winning poster was presented during the 4th Conference of The Union Asia-Pacific Region, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (IUATLD), held April 10-13, 2013 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

As part of the PEPFAR-funded CDC Cooperative Agreement, the TB Laboratory Management (TBLM) training program offers a systematic approach to build local capacity in Vietnam. TBLM is a comprehensive 12-month training course delivered to 16 laboratory managers in the seven national, regional, and provincial reference laboratories across the country.* The training course comprised of two 4-day courses integrated with six months of mentorship, collection of baseline data, and follow-up improvements.

These training courses aim to address the major challenges faced by tuberculosis laboratories in Vietnam, highlighting the importance of good management practices, laboratory organization, cold chain maintenance, reagents and stock inventories, equipment and maintenance, staff, data/logbook, documentation, laboratory information management systems, biosafety, and quality assurance.

This systematic approach to TB Laboratory Management, summarized in the poster, has yielded excellent results and significant improvements in all areas of TBLM. Continuous monitoring and onsite mentorship visits are still needed to sustain improvements and ensure all elements of TBLM are implemented; these issues will be addressed in a second round of training at the TB provincial level labs.

*National Reference Laboratory – National Lung Hospital, Hanoi Lung Hospital, National Lung Hospital K71, National Lung Hospital K74, Da Nang Lung and Respiratory Diseases Hospital, Can Tho Lung and Respiratory Diseases Hospital, Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital