The Togo national proficiency test pilot programme for basic clinical chemistry tests.

Background: A national proficiency test (PT) programme is not currently implemented in most low-income countries. However, participation in such PT programmes assists improves test performance and result accuracy.

Objective: This study assessed how well 11 government hospital laboratories performed 18 basic clinical chemistry tests and identified areas needing improvement.

[External Quality Assessment of Thick and Thin Blood Smear Slides for the Diagnosis of Malaria in the Lomé and Gulf Health Districts of Togo].

Objective: In sub-Saharan Africa where 90% of malaria cases are concentrated, the control of this disease constitutes a major challenge whose diagnosis by thick and thin smear deserves to be exact and reproducible. The purpose of this study is to assess the performance of thick/thin blood smear in order to improve its implementation process.

Material And Methods: This was a descriptive and analytical study that took place from May to June 2017 and involved participating laboratories (PL) coming from public, liberal and confessional sectors in Lomé.

The use of dried tube specimens of Plasmodium falciparum in an external quality assessment programme to evaluate health worker performance for malaria rapid diagnostic testing in healthcare centres in Togo.

Background: The use of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to diagnose malaria is common in sub-Saharan African laboratories, remote primary health facilities and in the community. Currently, there is a lack of reliable methods to ascertain health worker competency to accurately use RDTs in the testing and diagnosis of malaria. Dried tube specimens (DTS) have been shown to be a consistent and useful method for quality control of malaria RDTs; however, its application in National Quality Management programmes has been limited.