Micronutrient Survey Manual & Toolkit

Content Sheet 10-1: Overview of External Quality Assessment (EQA)

Document providing a detailed overview of the EQA process

Course: Introduction to DHS Nutrition Indicators

The Introduction to Nutrition Indicators in DHS Surveys course is designed to orient professionals from government, civil society, multilateral organizations, and all data users to the nutrition indicators reported in DHS surveys. It is organized into 12 modules:

1 .Child nutritional status 2. Adolescent and adult nutritional status 3. Child growth monitoring 4. Infant and young child feeding (IYCF) 5. Women’s dietary practices 6. Nutrition counseling 7. Anemia status 8. Micronutrient supplementation and deworming in children 9. Food or cash assistance, deworming, and iron-containing supplementation during pregnancy 10. Salt iodization 11. Optional anthropometric data quality 12. Optional food insecurity

In Introduction to Nutrition Indicators in DHS Surveys, you will learn how the nutrition indicators reported in DHS surveys are collected, defined, and interpreted. Expect to spend between 2-3 hours completing this self-paced course. To register and access the Introduction to Nutrition Indicators in DHS Surveys course, click the button below, create a new Learning Hub account, and get ready to learn!

https://learning.dhsprogram.com/login/index.php

NOTE from Micronutrient Survey Manual and Toolkit organizers: DHS methods may differ from current recommendations.

Selección del ensayo de aptitud apropriado para mi laboratorio

Proficiency testing is important for ensuring the quality of results produced by a laboratory. This document helps labs select which time of proficiency testing best matches the services they provide. (Spanish version, English version also available)

Selecting the right proficiency testing scheme for my laboratory

Serum ferritin concentrations for the assessment of iron status in individuals and populations: technical brief

This technical brief aims to provide summarized information about the use of serum ferritin for assessing iron status in individuals and populations. It is a compilation of the current World Health Organization ( WHO) recommendations on the topic and summarizes the cut-off values for describing iron stores and the chronology of their establishment. It also includes considerations for assessment of the risk of iron overload.

WHO manual for organizing a national external quality assessment programme for health laboratories and other testing sites

The term “external quality assessment” (EQA) describes a method/process that allows testing conducted by a laboratory or testing site to be compared to that of a source outside the laboratory. Successful participation of a testing site in an EQA programme provides objective evidence of the testing service’s competence for customers, accrediting bodies and regulatory agencies, and serves as a unique source of information that is not easily obtainable in other ways.

This manual describes some of the strategic, managerial, financial, technical and scientific aspects to be considered in establishing a national EQA programme for clinical laboratories and other testing services at all health care levels. The manual has been prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners to fill perceived gaps, and the scope is limited to EQA programmes that deliver proficiency testing.