Western Pacific Multi-country Integrated HIV/TB Programme funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GF) and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provides support to improve and maintain quality of TB laboratory services in the Pacific Island Countries (PIC’s) through external quality assessment (EQA). This activity is to achieve a larger goal to promote universal and equitable access to quality diagnosis and appropriate treatment of TB, MDR-TB, TB/DM and TB/HIV patients across 11 Pacific Island Countries (PIC). EQA is understood as a combination of three major elements:

• On-site (in-country) evaluations
• Blinded smear rechecking,
• Panel tests

For the purposes of the contract between UNDP and the Pacific Paramedical Training Centre (PPTC), National laboratories performing TB testing (smear and GeneXpert) in 8 PIC’s (Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu) were included to provide on-site supervisory evaluation visits.

On-site evaluation has been defined as a combination of supportive supervision and hands-on training for the laboratory staff, and serves to guide and assist countries in providing enhanced and effective laboratory services for the national TB programmes.