Monitor Quality In Testing, WHO COVID-19 Laboratory Test In Indonesia

Illustration - Indonesian Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin (right) exchanged chats with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus/ANTARA

JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) conducted a test of COVID-19 laboratory samples in Indonesia and a number of other countries as part of efforts to monitor quality performance in testing. laboratory quality management system is important to ensure that COVID-19 laboratories in Indonesia provide accurate and reliable results. One way to check quality management systems -- Based on a written WHO statement received in Jakarta -- states, external quality assurance programs (EQAP), which evaluate performance using methods such as proof, retest, and evaluation tests at laboratory locations. Efforts to monitor the quality of testing in COVID-19 laboratories are also carried out by WHO around the world by distributing test samples in the form of panels to member states. Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the panel recently arrived in Indonesia, and is currently in the process of being distributed to provinces. In Indonesia, 1,034 laboratories are available in 34 provinces that will receive test sample panels. Each laboratory will test panels and the Ministry of Health includes results online for evaluation and analysis of laboratory performance. "This EQAP process is important so that we can see which laboratories have good performance and which ones need support," said Budi as quoted by Antara, Friday, September 30. According to Budi, laboratory performance that complies with global standards and is able to provide reliable services is very beneficial to the community. "People can get trustworthy results from the laboratory, and then get proper treatment based on these results," he said. The Royal College of Pathologists of Astralasia Quality Assurance Programs (RCPAQAP) will streamline the results of laboratories in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Timor Leste. The compilation was sent to WHO which will analyze the results to get a global COVID-19 EQAP report. Australia's Ambassador to Indonesia Penny Williams said health security depends on the level of COVID-19 transmission control. Australia supports Indonesia with expert policies and technical advice to reduce the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, EU Ambassador to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam Vincentpett said his party supports panel distribution and supervision visits to laboratories, as part of the WHO-EU, Response and Preparedness program for the Health Pandemic in Southeast Asia. This collaboration reaffirms EU's ongoing commitment to support Indonesia's response to COVID-19 and strengthen its health system. Global cooperation and solidarity are ways to defeat the virus and start a sustainable global recovery,” he said. He said the proof test in the EQAP would provide a thorough picture of the performance of COVID-19 laboratories at the global and national levels to the Ministry of Health.