ArticleThe Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy2025
External quality assurance (EQA) network in South and South-East Asia: experience and results from an international EQA programme in One Health sector reference laboratories.
Article in The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Insights from the WHO Tricycle-aligned Fleming Fund EQASIA External Quality Assessment (EQA) programme detecting ESBL-, AmpC- and carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli in South and South-East Asia.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2026Article
- External quality assurance of molecular serotype detection of dengue virus RNA among virus research and diagnostic laboratories in India.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Antimicrobial resistance in uropathogens in Nigeria: pathogen profiles, resistance burden, surveillance and stewardship considerations.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Molecular insights into antimicrobial resistance in human bacterial pathogens: mechanisms, resistance genes, and translational diagnostic applications.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- Performance of a quality control center supporting national antimicrobial resistance surveillance.British journal of biomedical science · 2026Article
- Strengthening antimicrobial resistance diagnostics in National Reference Laboratories across One Health in South and Southeast Asia: impact of external quality assessment and targeted follow-up.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2025Article
- Community pharmacy-led point-of-care testing (POCT): expanding roles and strengthening health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2025Article
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19 authors.
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Abstract
objectivesExternal quality assurance (EQA) is an objective tool to assess laboratories' diagnostic performance and their adherence to recognized international standards. External Quality Assessment in Asia (EQASIA) is an EQA network in South and South-East Asia established in 2020 with the aim of improving the quality of bacteriology diagnostics across all One Health sectors in the region. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the EQA results collected from the EQASIA network and to assess improvements among the participating laboratories.
methodsSix EQA rounds were conducted between 2021 and 2023, each composed of different panels of WHO Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) and The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) priority pathogens of interest to both the human and animal health sector.
resultsBetween 24 and 32 laboratories signed up for six EQA rounds (EQA1-6). Participating laboratories were able to isolate and correctly identify most of the isolates across the EQA panels except for the Campylobacter spp. and Enterococcus spp. panels. The overall performance of laboratories across the six EQAs was between 75% and 100% (average 93.3% and median 93.6%). The obtained results showed a significant improvement in laboratories' performance over time.
conclusionsLaboratory capacity development and quality assurance in a microbiology laboratory are of particular importance especially in the context of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and One Health surveillance. The EQASIA programme has the potential to validate laboratories' performance in detecting important One Health pathogens, generating reliable data for effective surveillance to curb AMR.
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