Virology Unit, Indian Council of Medical Research, DHR, MoHFW, New Delhi, Delhi, India.
WHO South-East Asia Regional Office, New Delhi, Delhi, India.
PLoS One. 2022 Feb 8;17(2):e0263736. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263736. eCollection 2022.
Sudden emergence and rapid spread of COVID-19 created an inevitable need for expansion of the COVID-19 laboratory testing network across the world. The strategy to test-track-treat was advocated for quick detection and containment of the disease. Being the second most populous country in the world, India was challenged to make COVID-19 testing available and accessible in all parts of the country. The molecular laboratory testing network was augmented expeditiously, and number of laboratories was increased from one in January 2020 to 2951 till mid-September, 2021. This rapid expansion warranted the need to have inbuilt systems of quality control/ quality assurance. In addition to the ongoing inter-laboratory quality control (ILQC), India implemented an External Quality Assurance Program (EQAP) with assistance from World Health Organization (WHO) and Royal College of Pathologists, Australasia. Out of the 953 open system rRTPCR laboratories in both public and private sector who participated in the first round of EQAP, 891(93.4%) laboratories obtained a passing score of > = 80%. The satisfactory performance of Indian COVID-19 testing laboratories has boosted the confidence of the public and policy makers in the quality of testing. ILQC and EQAP need to continue to ensure adherence of the testing laboratories to the desired quality standards.
新冠疫情的突然爆发和迅速传播，使得在全球范围内扩大新冠病毒实验室检测网络成为必然需求。检测追踪治疗策略旨在快速发现和控制疾病。作为世界上第二大人口大国，印度面临着在全国范围内提供和普及新冠病毒检测的挑战。分子实验室检测网络迅速扩大，实验室数量从 2020 年 1 月的 1 个增加到 2021 年 9 月中旬的 2951 个。这种快速扩张需要建立内在的质量控制/质量保证系统。除了正在进行的实验室间质量控制（ILQC）之外，印度在世界卫生组织（WHO）和澳大利亚皇家病理学院的协助下实施了外部质量保证计划（EQAP）。在参加第一轮 EQAP 的 953 个公共和私营部门的开放式实时 RT-PCR 实验室中，891 个（93.4%）实验室获得了> = 80%的及格分数。印度新冠病毒检测实验室的令人满意的表现增强了公众和政策制定者对检测质量的信心。ILQC 和 EQAP 需要继续确保检测实验室遵守所需的质量标准。
