Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

From 1 – 9 December 2025, the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), with funding from the Fleming Fund through the EQuAFRICA Project piloted the training and certification program for External Quality Assurance Providers (TrEQAP). This is the first of its kind on the African continent. The training program seeks to train and certify competent EQA Practitioners with demonstrated advanced knowledge and skills, not only in the principles, concepts and methodologies of EQA but who can independently manage and coordinate an EQA program.

Dr Temesgen Endalew, ASLM Learning Experience Manager addressing participants on the first day of the workshop

The training brought together 23 participants from 10 Fleming Fund countries (Zambia, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Nigeria, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Kenya) and three consortium Partners (IPD in Senegal, Amref Health in Kenya and NICD in South Africa) who have completed the Fundamentals of EQA Course

(Level 1 Certification). Participants came from institutions already providing EQA or in the process of establishing their EQA schemes.

TrEQAP Trainers: Sylvanus Tekwe FON – ASLM, Professor Olga Perovic – NICD, Patience Dabula – ASLM and Paul Kahara – Ranqual Consulting Group

 In her welcome speech and opening remarks, Patience Dabula, Project Manager EQuAFRICA at ASLM, expressed and extended the excitement and gratitude of the ASLM Hierarchy to the participants and their respective Ministries and Managements for making it to the training.

She reiterated the essential role of External Quality Assessment (EQA) as a component of quality assurance (QA) that verifies the quality of laboratory test results by challenging the effectiveness of the laboratory testing processes. Participation in EQA is generally low especially in low to middle income countries owing to the limited number of Providers and awareness. TrEQAP is designed to create awareness about EQA to key stakeholders, build competencies for EQA practitioners on requirements for implementing and coordinating an EQA program in line with applicable standards and best practices. TrEQAP provides a mechanism for formal recognition (Certification) of EQA practitioners on a scale of Levels of competencies;

• Level 1: Fundamentals of EQA,
• Level 2: Certified EQA Practitioner
• Level 3: EQA Subject Matter Expert (SME).