Sharing experiences in diagnosing tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

On September 11-12, leading Vietnamese experts shared their experiences in the external control program for Xpert molecular testing to diagnose tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

On September 11-12, in Hanoi, the Central Lung Hospital and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) jointly organized the "Regional Workshop on Xpert TB External Control".

Director of Central Lung Hospital speaking at the Workshop on September 11.

This is an activity within the framework of a cooperation project between the National Tuberculosis Control Program (NTP), the Central Lung Hospital and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to implement training to improve the capacity to ensure the quality of TB testing for human resources performing TB testing in Vietnam.

According to the World Health Organization, Vietnam has detected and reported 103,804 cases of tuberculosis, accounting for about 60% of the total estimated number of tuberculosis cases in Vietnam in 2022. Thus, Vietnam still has a large gap in diagnosing and detecting tuberculosis cases in the community.

The Xpert MTB/RIF test is a molecular biological test for diagnosing tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis recommended by the World Health Organization since December 2010. To date, about 140 countries and territories worldwide have implemented this test.

In Vietnam, the Xpert MTB/RIF test has been deployed by the National Tuberculosis Control Program (NTP) since 2011 at the National Standard Tuberculosis Laboratory. To date, Vietnam has installed, put into use and managed 332 GeneXpert machines at 182 deployment points nationwide.

The number of tests nationwide increases gradually every year. In 2023, 452,279 tests were performed nationwide, an increase of more than 113% compared to 2022.

Dr. Dinh Van Luong, Director of the Central Lung Hospital, Head of the Executive Board of the National Tuberculosis Control Program, the MTB/RIF external control program of the Central Lung Hospital has provided external control samples to countries such as Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea in recent years.

In 2024, the Central Lung Hospital will continue to maintain two activities of providing external sample sets for Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea with more than 200 sample sets and providing technology consulting support for sample set production for the Philippines.

In addition, with the support of CDC-US Vietnam, the program is on track to expand and develop into a regional external control center with new molecular tests such as Xpert MTB/XDR, Truenat MTB/RIF and provide domestic services in 2024 and is expected to be able to provide services to foreign units in the following years.

The TB external audit program - Xpert MTB/RIF & Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra molecular testing is organized for all Xpert implementing units nationwide with financial support from the Global Fund for the period 2024-2026.

The Xpert MTB/RIF & MTB/RIF ULTRA external audit program was officially launched in 2017. After 7 years of implementation, 14 rounds of external audits have been successfully organized for units implementing Xpert MTB/RIF & Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra nationwide. The number of participating units has increased over the years with 35 units since 2017, and now there are nearly 180 participating units.

The rate of units with inconsistent results through the rounds ranges from 1% to 10%. Through organizing 2 rounds of annual external inspections for units implementing Xpert nationwide, the National Tuberculosis Control Program has been and is continuing to serve the goal of ensuring and improving the quality of Xpert testing for diagnosing tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

The Director of the Central Lung Hospital said that to increase the rate of tuberculosis detection in the coming time, the Vietnam National Tuberculosis Control Program is focusing resources on expanding access to rapid molecular tests for diagnosing tuberculosis recommended by the World Health Organization.

Along with strengthening and expanding the scope and quantity of TB testing, the Vietnam National Tuberculosis Control Program also focuses on ensuring the quality of testing as a key factor in early detection of TB cases and effective treatment monitoring.

Vietnam's model and experience in implementing external audit programs will be shared at this workshop, with the hope of supporting the implementation and improvement of TB testing quality assurance methods in the region," said Mr. Luong.

However, according to Dr. Dinh Van Luong, the implementation of these external audit programs still faces many limitations due to high costs and limited service availability.

The Director of the Central Lung Hospital also added that in recent days, Vietnam has suffered from super typhoon Yagi, which caused serious damage in many areas and right now, flooding is occurring in many places.

However, even in the face of natural disasters, Vietnam has not forgotten its important mission in the fight against tuberculosis. Unity and determination are the strength to overcome all challenges, both from disease and natural disasters. And the fight against tuberculosis cannot be successful without the coordination and solidarity of countries.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/chia-se-kinh-nghiem-chan-doan-lao-va-lao-da-khang-thuoc-d224676.html