Buruli ulcer laboratory network and new external quality assessment programme for PCR-based diagnosis in the WHO African Region

The World Health Organization (WHO) has set at least 70% PCR confirmation rate as target for countries to meet, yet most countries in the African region have not been able to reach this target. Rather, the rate of confirmation has been declining; and this is due to, amongst other factors, ambiguity in PCR testing protocols in a number of these endemic countries

Hence, to resolve procedure ambiguity issues and to ensure sustainability, testing protocols were successfully harmonized and standardized during the first meeting in October 2019. Every laboratory in the network would use the same testing procedure and same reagents for PCR diagnosis.

The annual meeting reports document discussions and recommendations during our gatherings. These serve as a valuable resource for stakeholders to understand the purpose of the network, the activities carried out, milestones achieved, and the next steps of the program.

BU-LABNET

A laboratory network and a new program model for external quality assessment of PCR based diagnostics for Buruli ulcer in endemic African countries.