CLSI Partners with Dominican Republic to Provide HIV Testing Training

The Situation

Currently, the Dominican Republic has a population of 11 million inhabitants and approximately 1% HIV prevalence rate. CLSI has been providing training in the Dominican Republic since 2016 for 11 HIV point-of-care-testing (POCT) sites as well as the National Reference Laboratory (Referencia Laboratorio Clínico), a CAP-certified institution. 

 
The Program

The scope of CLSI’s work in the Dominican Republic focused on supporting the UNAIDS Initiative 90-90-90 program. In 2014, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and partners (including UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO, and the World Bank) launched the 90-90-90 targets. The aim of this program was to diagnose 90% of all HIV-positive people, provide antiretroviral therapy (ART) for 90% of those diagnosed, and achieve viral suppression for 90% of those treated by 2020. CLSI’s training aimed at helping HIV POCT sites in the Dominican Republic reach these goals.

CLSI’s training model in the Dominican Republic focused on strengthening the quality management system (QMS) in selected sites to achieve quality in HIV testing. The priority was to ensure correct and timely diagnosis of people living with HIV. CLSI also took on the task of strengthening the viral load testing processes for all patients in treatment at the sites and National Reference Laboratory.

The 11 POCT sites—located in La Romana, Puerto Plata, Santiago de los Caballeros, and Santo Domingo—are made up of laboratories, clinics, and mobile health facilities. Staff at these sites included laboratory professionals as well as nonlaboratory personnel. CLSI’s in-country training included laboratory and nonlaboratory health care professionals and focused on how to perform HIV testing appropriately. The results from patient testing are in turn reported to the National Reference Laboratory.

 
The Result

CLSI also provided support to the virology unit at the National Reference Laboratory to strengthen its external quality assurance (EQA) program. CLSI training is aligned with the ISO/IEC 17043 standard, Conformity Assessment—General Requirements for Proficiency Testing, and helped the National Reference Laboratory in its goal to achieve accreditation.

Referencia (the National Reference Laboratory) department is now certified by the American College of Pathologists (CAP) as the tenth laboratory certified by the CAP in Central America and the Caribbean. It is also the first clinical laboratory in the country and all the Caribbean to receive the International Certification of Quality Management Standard ISO 9001, ISO 15189, and IQNET for its commitment to service and continuous improvement of interoffice processes by Underwriters Laboratories (UL). It is also now accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) and certified ISO 17025.