From SLMTA to ISO accreditation: A success story from Hai DHuong Preventive Medicine Center

Since the lab director and quality manager from the preventive medicine center in Hai Duong learned to improve laboratory management through CDC and WHO’s innovative 1-year laboratory improvement program, SLMTA (Strengthening Laboratory Management Towards Accreditation), they were committed and determined to make improvements in their laboratory. They took it upon themselves to get funding from their management and seek international accreditation (ISO 17025 certification).  

At the start of the SLMTA program, baseline audits assessed them to be at the very bottom of the ranking, with a score of 29% compliance. But after only 12 months, SLMTA exit audits showed their compliance score was now 87% (213/258 points), the highest among the 12 laboratories. This earned them 4 stars (out of a maximum of 5 in SLMTA grading system) and a special acknowledgement from the Vice Minister of Health, Madam Xuyen, at the SLMTA graduation ceremony held in 2013.

After only six month of correcting and improving their laboratory, they were awarded ISO 17025 Certification from the Vietnam Bureau of Accreditation. The Hai Duong laboratory staff credited their success to everything they learned in the SLMTA program and financially supported themselves to achieve international accreditation. This is a huge accomplishment for the Hai Duong laboratory, the SLMTA program, for PEPFAR and CDC laboratory programs, and for the Vietnam health system. Through PEPFAR and CDC support, Vietnam now has 10 laboratories that have achieved international level accreditation and improved the quality of laboratory services for more accurate and timely testing results for the people of Vietnam.