The Global Health Impact Group (GHIG) provided technical assistance and direction to the 3-year project funded by Unitaid to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) to provide quality assurance (QA) for HIV CD4, early infant diagnosis (EID) and viral load (VL) point-of-care (POC) testing in 10 countries in Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda). At the completion of this work, all 10 countries had developed models for quality assurance that integrated POC testing within the existing laboratory network. The work also included costing quality assurance so that countries could develop budgets and seek funding. Connectivity to support the monitoring of POC testing was also piloted. In the end, this work directly contributed to policy changes and advocacy for stronger quality assurance programs.
