Context
A clinical biology system that provides high-quality services allows to improve public health.
In Cambodia, we support CamLab, the national network of clinical laboratories created in 2013, which is managed by the Bureau of Medical Laboratory Services (BMLS), of the Cambodian Ministry of Health, in partnership with national and international partners.
Aim
Ensuring quality diagnostics in laboratories is a key focus of the CamLab network.
Each year, a national program, coordinated by the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) of the Cambodian Ministry of Health, provides an external quality assessment (EQA).
The EQA looks at analyses from member laboratories (hematology, biochemistry, microbiology and transfusion serology) in order to evaluate their efficiency and performance.
Activities
External quality assessment
We support the national program of external quality assessment in the laboratories which are members of the CamLab network.
Three international organizations provide all the EQA programs: Sysmex in Japan, Pacific Paramedical Training Center in New Zealand and Oneworld Accuracy in Canada; the two latter are funded by the Mérieux Foundation, via the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH).
The NIPH then distributes the reference samples locally as part of the program. It then consolidates the results and sends them to the EQA provider organizations to prepare the final report. These organizations then submit a final report and recommendations for corrective actions.
Training and governance
We also support the Bureau of Medical Laboratory Services in the governance of the national laboratory network by preparing the national strategic plan for laboratories, conducting workshops and conferences and running the CamLab website, hosted on GLOBE, the online biomedical expertise portal.
We have developed a training curriculum and we organize training courses as part of the ongoing training of laboratory technicians.
We also renovate and equip the clinical laboratories members of the national network and train biologists.
Achievements
External quality assessment
| Year | Laboratories |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 44 laboratories |
| 2016 | 39 laboratories, including 5 private labs |
| 2015 | 32 laboratories |
| 2014 | 19 laboratories |
Preliminary findings indicate that in 2016 the laboratories scored above 80% in all areas, evidence of satisfactory results. The previous year, the laboratories had undergone training to implement any necessary corrective actions.
Training and governance
We have provided support to the Ministry of Health for the publication of the National Strategic Plan for Laboratories 2015-2020.
An e-learning training module on “Biosafety and biomedical waste management” was posted online and translated into Khmer on the CamLab site of the GLOBE portal.
Partners
- BMLS and NIPH of the Cambodian Ministry of Health
- World Health Organization
- Naval Medical Research Unit Two (NAMRU-2)
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Private Laboratories
- Fondation Christophe et Rodolphe Mérieux