The establishment of quality systems in veterinary diagnostic testing laboratories in developing countries: experiences with the FAO/IAEA External Quality Assurance Programme

Abstract

Quality systems, established to internationally accepted standards, are one mechanism that can assist in evaluations of the sustainability of technology transfer, the proficiency of the user, and the reliability and comparability of data generated, resulting in potential enhancement of laboratory credibility. The means of interpreting existing standards and implementing quality systems in developing country veterinary diagnostic laboratories has become a significant adjunct to the technology transfer element within the Food and Agriculture/ International Atomic Energy Agency, FAO/IAEA programme. The FAO/IAEA External Quality Assurance Programme (EQAP) is given as an example for an initial step towards enhancing the “quality” culture in developing country veterinary laboratories. In 1995 the EQAP began as an effort to assure that test results emanating from laboratories using FAO/IAEA ELISA kits for animal disease diagnosis are valid. For this purpose 15 international external quality-assurance rounds have been performed to date for a variety of animal diseases e.g. Rinderpest, brucellosis, trypanosomosis, and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). Results indicate that the EQAP is a valuable tool in the assessment of both the results provided by, and use of the ELISA kits provided through, the joint FAO/IAEA programme. Furthermore EQAP can assist laboratory diagnosticians to enhance quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) procedures for conducting FAO/IAEA ELISAs and to advise on the implementation of similar QC/QA procedures in other laboratory activities. Based on the experiences made during the implementation of the EQAP a proposal for establishing a quality system standard was ratified through the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) general conference in May 2000. The OIE Standard On Management And Technical Requirements For Laboratories Conducting Tests For Infectious Animal Diseases is based on ISO 17025 and provides a clear formula for establishing quality systems in veterinary diagnostic laboratories world-wide.