HIV laboratory analysis:Circb upgrades skills of technicians

Laboratory technicians and heads of laboratories charged with measuring CD4 lymphocytes or T cells which evaluate the immune system of a person diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and to monitor effectiveness of antiretroviral treatment (ART or ARV), yesterday, May 31, 2016, at the Chantal Biya International Reference Centre for Research on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Management (CIRCB) shared experiences, problems that prevent them from being optimal in their performance as well as discussed practical issues to move toward optimal success and accreditation of their laboratories.

While opening the workshop on the theme; "Quality in the Laboratory Analysis of CD4 cells", the Director of CIRCB, Prof Alexis Ndjolo said it was important for technicians to be apt in carrying out their activities so as to ensure effective control and care given to HIV patients.

As a centre with specific focus on HIV research, knowing the measurement of the immunological status of people living with HIV is important.

One of the laboratory heads at CIRCB, Professor Judith Torimiro explained that it is important for CIRCB, as a designated centre for quality control analysis of CD4 in Cameroon to empower laboratory technicians involved in CD4 counts, know the state of their equipments in analysing CD4 cells while ensuring that the medical analyses meet up with standard.

With a special mission to support laboratories that measure CD4 counts, CIRCB receives proficiency testing panels (samples) from Quality Assessment and Standardisation and Immunological Measures for CD4 T (QASI) which is an assessment laboratory in Canada. These samples are distributed to labs in seven Regions in the country that carry out CD4 T measurements.

CIRCB later receives reports from the labs, check their results and work with those that did not perform above a certain threshold to carry out corrective measures and ensure they operate at acceptable clinical levels.

Prof Torimiro said CIRCB is also mandated to set up a network of laboratories in a bid to harmonise and standardise equipments in Cameroon used for CD4 counts.

During the workshop, it was revealed that most of the labs have communication problems, cannot maintain their equipments and need to be effectively supervised so as to move towards accreditation as required by the Ministry of Public Health.