Improved Specimen-Referral System and Increased Access to Quality Laboratory Services in Ethiopia: The Role of the Public-Private Partnership

Kebede, Yenew; Fonjungo, Peter N.; Tibesso, Gudeta; Shrivastava, Ritu; Nkengasong, John N.; Kenyon, Thomas; Kebede, Amha; Gadde, Renuka; Ayana, Gonfa

doi:10.1093/infdis/jiv576

Cited by 36 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Given the challenges reported with long turnaround times from specimen collection to receipt of test results, understanding the factors associated with delays in the pretest, test, and posttest phase could inform interventions to minimize turnaround time and improve follow-up and linkage to care. Strengthening specimen referral networks and supply chain management needs to take place in half of the countries assessed, similar to the improvements that have already occurred with other laboratory services in resource-limited settings (5). Moreover, addressing the issues of integration between programs, mothers and children lost to follow-up, and the inability to reach children out of the health care system is needed to increase access to testing services for early infant diagnosis (6).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Diagnosis of HIV Infection in Infants — One Caribbean and Six Sub-Saharan African Countries, 2011–2015

Diallo¹,

Aa²,

Lecher³

et al. 2016

MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Diagnosis of HIV Infection in Infants — One Caribbean and Six Sub-Saharan African Countries, 2011–2015

Diallo¹,

Aa²,

Lecher³

et al. 2016

MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep.

Self Cite

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“…15,16 Colleagues in Guinea also worked to establish a specimen referral and transport system following the West Africa Ebola virus disease outbreak, and they have documented the importance of collaborating closely with the ministry of health and conducting a baseline assessment to inform system design. 17 The specimen transport system pilot had some significant limitations. It was challenging to estimate the cost benefits achieved with the new specimen transport system.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing and Piloting a Specimen Transport System in Burkina Faso

et al. 2020

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Efficient specimen transport systems are critical for early disease detection and reporting by laboratory networks. In Burkina Faso, centralized reference laboratories receive specimens from multiple surveillance sites for testing, but transport methods vary, resulting in potential delays and risk to specimen quality. The ministry of health and partners, under the Global Health Security Agenda implementation, piloted a specimen transport system for severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) surveillance in 4 Burkina Faso districts. A baseline assessment was conducted of the current specimen transport network structure and key stakeholders. Assessment results and guidelines for processing SARI specimens informed the pilot specimen transport system design and implementation. Monitoring and evaluation performance indicators included: proportion of packages delivered, timeliness, and quality of courier services (missed or damaged packages). Our baseline assessment found that laboratorians routinely carried specimens from the health center to reference laboratories, resulting in time away from laboratory duties and potential specimen delays or loss of quality. The pilot specimen transport system design engaged Sonapost, the national postal service, to transport specimens from SARI sites to the influenza national reference laboratory. From May 2017 to December 2018, the specimen transport system transported 557 packages containing 1,158 SARI specimens; 95% (529/557) were delivered within 24 hours of pickup and 77% (892/1,158) within 48 hours of collection. No packages were lost. This article highlights lessons learned that may be useful for other countries considering establishment of a specimen transport system to strengthen laboratory system infrastructure in global health security implementation.

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“…Moreover, the number of nominated person for transportation of infectious substances was very low (19.4%). Also, standard shipping boxes were not available for the majority of state laboratories [20][21].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge and Practice about Transportation of Infectious Substance among Healthcare Providers, Khartoum State

Adam¹,

Faroug²,

Sayed³

et al. 2019

ujph

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Proper shipping of infectious materials is an important practice to prevent healthcare workers (HCWs), other people and environment from spread of biological threats. The main purpose of this study was to determine healthcare providers' knowledge, and practices about transportation of infectious substances. A self-administered designed questionnaire was used to collect relevant data from study respondents. Primary data were double entered and analyzed by using statistical package for social sciences (IBM SPSS statistics 20). Descriptive, in addition to the effects of predictors on dependent variables were applied. Multiple logistic regression model was used to assess the association between dependent variables and predictors. It has been found that; the overall mean percentage of knowledge was 57.1 (95 CI: 54.1, 60.2), while mean percentage of practice was 68.9 (CI: 95% 66.7 -71.1). Response reliability scale was 89.0% based on Cronbach's alpha. The highest knowledge regarding transportation of infectious substances was observed among laboratory specialist (33.9%) and doctors (25.4%) respectively. High percentage of practice was observed among laboratory specialist was (34.6%) and low percentage was among public health officers and doctors (15.9%). Majority of study respondents did not receive training in transportation of infectious substances (70.9%). Knowledge and practice on transportation of infectious substances among health care providers are low. More efforts are needed to fill the gap in knowledge and practice by applying effective training programs that can lead to increase skills and awareness of health care providers.

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Improved Specimen-Referral System and Increased Access to Quality Laboratory Services in Ethiopia: The Role of the Public-Private Partnership

Abstract: This study highlights the feasibility and untapped potential of PPPs to strengthen laboratory systems. This planned and structured approach to improving specimen referral enhanced access to quality laboratory services.

Cited by 36 publications

References 17 publications

Early Diagnosis of HIV Infection in Infants — One Caribbean and Six Sub-Saharan African Countries, 2011–2015

Early Diagnosis of HIV Infection in Infants — One Caribbean and Six Sub-Saharan African Countries, 2011–2015

Designing and Piloting a Specimen Transport System in Burkina Faso

Knowledge and Practice about Transportation of Infectious Substance among Healthcare Providers, Khartoum State

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