EQAsia

Strengthening bacteriology diagnostics for AMR surveillance


The Fleming Fund Regional Grant EQAsia is dedicated to improve bacteriology diagnostics to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through the provision of External Quality Assessments (EQAs) and technical support to National Reference Laboratories and Centres of Excellence in low and middle-income countries across Asia.

Under a One Health (OH) remit, EQAsia provides a free of charge EQAs scheme with tailored training targeting quality management systems (QMS) and laboratory diagnostics. 

Two of the programme's most notable features are the One Stop Shop design of diagnostic EQAs that focus on phenotypic species identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of WHO-GLASS and FAO priority pathogens, and the implementation of a unique user friendly, online informatic tool for reporting and analysis of EQA results. This simplifies data processing for EQA facilitators and enables the participants to assess new EQAs and review past performance.

Establishing a Community of Practice for AMR


To date 49 laboratories from 14 countries in the South and Southeast Asia regions have joint the EQAsia network:
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, PNG, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Vietnam.

Build into the architecture of EQAsia, the programme fosters a regional Community of Practice by connecting the laboratories and stakeholders through e.g. webinars and training activities to ensure knowledge sharing and support for one another across the health sectors and geographical borders. 

The Fleming Fund

EQAsia is funded through a Regional Grant by The Fleming Fund.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)'s Fleming Fund is a UK aid programme supporting up to 25 countries across Africa and Asia to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a leading contributor to deaths from infectious diseases worldwide.

The Fleming Fund invests in strengthening AMR surveillance systems through a portfolio of country grants, regional grants and fellowships managed by Mott MacDonald, and global projects managed by DHSC


Disclaimer

Information presented on this website is considered public information (unless otherwise noted) and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credit is requested. While The National Food Institute makes every effort to provide accurate and complete information, various data such as names, telephone numbers, etc. may change prior to updating. The National Food Institute welcomes suggestions on how to improve our home page and correct errors. The National Food Institute provides no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of furnished data.

Some of the documents on this server may contain live references (or pointers) to information created and maintained by other organizations. Please note that The National Food Institute does not control and cannot guarantee the relevance, timeliness, or accuracy of these outside materials.