Strengthening the BPaL OR’s laboratory component
through laboratory needs assessment

A series of laboratory needs assessment (LNA) activities was conducted from 23 March-26 April 2021 via Zoom covering 18 laboratories as detailed in the table below.  The assessment was led by NTRL with support from the Research Team, and counterparts from the NTP, PBSP, LIFT-TB Consultant and TDF.  The LNA for NTRL was spearheaded by Dr Jeong Suk Lee (International TB Research Center Lab Expert) with support from the same partner agencies. 

Laboratory needs assessment activities

No.	Laboratory facility name	Date NA was conducted	Medical technologist
1	La Union Medical Center (LUMC)	3/23/21	Angienette Acosta, RMT
2	Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC)	3/24/21	Sharon Vale, RMT
3	Sorsogon Medical Mission Group Hospital and Health Services Cooperative (SMMGHHSC)	3/25/21	Analiz Lotino, RMT
4	Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC)	3/25/21	Fatiha Alamuddin, RMT
5	Philippine Tuberculosis Society, Inc. – Quezon Institute (PTSI-QI)	3/26/21	Blanche C. Poblete, RMT
6	Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP)	3/30/21	Norman Charles Labis, RMT
7	Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital (JBLMRH)	3/30/21	Phoebe Cruz, RMT
8	Center for Health Development – Central Luzon (CHD-CL)	3/30/21	Lorenzo Bansil, RMT
9	National TB Reference Laboratory	3/31/21	Lorenzo Reyes, RMT
10	Davao TB Reference Laboratory (DTRL)	4/5/21	Joseph Mark Anque, RMT
11	Eversley Childs Sanitarium (ECS)	4/5/21	Juanita Alimurung, RMT
12	Region 1 Medical Center	4/7/21	Romar Tamayo, RMT
13	Dagupan Doctors Villaflor Memorial Hospital (DDVMH)	4/7/21	Amado Terrado, RMT
14	Batangas Medical Center (BatMC)	4/12/21	Mary Antonnette Miranda, RMT
15	Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC)	4/14/21	Melanie Ocsio, RMT
16	Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital (DJNMRH)	4/14/21	Jim Vianne Diaz, RMT
17	Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC)	4/19/21	Flordeliza B. Go, RMT
18	Northern Mindanao Medical TB Reference Laboratory (NMTRL)	4/26/21	Gemma G. Uy, RMT

 

Overall findings and recommendations from the LNA include the following:

1. Human resource (HR) and training (seven laboratories reported lack of HR and were advised to write a proposal letter to PBSP for possible support; some laboratory staff still lacked formal training on laboratory service/s rendered, e.g, smear and microscopy training, culture and Drug Sensitivity Testing (DST).
2. Equipment and commodities (vortex mixer, micropipettes, UPS), maintenance of Xpert machines and/or replacement of Xpert modules, stock-outs of N95 respirators, gloves, PPEs and Xpert supplies. These have been reported to PBSP for appropriate action.
3. Pending External Quality Assurance (EQA) system for Xpert, awaiting the arrival of Vietnam Smartspot molecular TB controls in the country by third quarter 2021 through NTRL.
4. Difficulties in encoding in ITIS, the NTP electronic information system, which resulted to delayed reporting of results. These were reported to IT IS for troubleshooting.

A Dissemination Meeting was conducted on 30 April 2021 led by the Research Team and participated by relevant stakeholders wherein aforementioned findings, recommendations and management /operational issues and concerns were discussed. This was followed by an update meeting, also with concerned stakeholders, following through the agreed actions to the recommendations made. One major issue identified from the meeting was the shortage of Line Probe Assay (LPA) kits at NTRL due to procurement delays.  For this reason, the TDF TB Laboratory is currently supporting the LPA testing for BPaL OR with funding support from PBSP. 

The International TB Research Center (ITRC Korea) continues to provide technical support to NTRL and the OR’s laboratory network to strengthen its capacity to provide specialized diagnostic services for the OR.  On-line training on DST and LPA was conducted by ITRC last 17 May 2021 to enhance the skills of laboratory staff performing these methods.