Uganda’s New National Laboratory Sample Transport System: A Successful Model for Improving Access to Diagnostic Services for Early Infant HIV Diagnosis and Other Programs
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Date
2013
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
PLoS ONE
Abstract
Uganda scaled-up Early HIV Infant Diagnosis (EID) when simplified methods for testing of infants using dried
blood spots (DBS) were adopted in 2006 and sample transport and management was therefore made feasible in rural
settings. Before this time only 35% of the facilities that were providing EID services were reached through the national
postal courier system, Posta Uganda. The transportation of samples during this scale-up, therefore, quickly became a
challenge and varied from facility to facility as different methods were used to transport the samples. This study evaluates a
novel specimen transport network system for EID testing.
Methods: A retrospective study was done in mid-2012 on 19 pilot hubs serving 616 health facilities in Uganda. The effect on
sample-result turnaround time (TAT) and the cost of DBS sample transport on 876 sample-results was analyzed.
Results: The HUB network system provided increased access to EID services ranging from 36% to 51%, drastically reduced
transportation costs by 62%, reduced turn-around times by 46.9% and by a further 46.2% through introduction of SMS
printers.
Conclusions: The HUB model provides a functional, reliable and efficient national referral network against which other
health system strengthening initiatives can be built to increase access to critical diagnostic and treatment monitoring
services, improve the quality of laboratory and diagnostic services, with reduced turn-around times and improved quality of
prevention and treatment programs thereby reducing long-term costs.
Description
Keywords
National Laboratory, Transport System, Infant HIV Diagnosis
Citation
Kiyaga C, Sendagire H, Joseph E, McConnell I, Grosz J, et al. (2013) Uganda’s New National Laboratory Sample Transport System: A Successful Model for Improving Access to Diagnostic Services for Early Infant HIV Diagnosis and Other Programs. PLoS ONE 8(11): e78609. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0078609