Technical assistance and support by the Supranational Reference Laboratory at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp (SRL) to the National Reference Laboratory (NRLs) of Georgia and Bangladesh and Proficiency testing for Drug-susceptibility testing (Round 25)

WHO has committed to support the successful implementation of the endTB project by strengthening the quality of the laboratory diagnosis in target countries through existing links between SRLs and National Reference Laboratories (NRLs).

This support will include:
• Facilitating SRL support to the proficiency testing of NRLs to ensure reliable drug susceptibility testing (DST) results
• Supporting DST to new TB drugs, either conducted by the SRLs for target countries or establishing capacity to conduct DST at the NRL

The annual round of DST proficiency testing allows the verification of proficiency of laboratories performing DST using both phenotypic and genotypic methods. Standardized panels distributed through the SRL network are used for proficiency testing of reference laboratories in many countries through their direct SRL linkage. The aim of this exercise to ensure DST is conducted in a uniform manner and results are accurate.