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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke in BULAWAYO
AT least US$8 million has been invested into an integrated specimen transportation system to improve disease diagnosis in all health facilities and enhance the management of patients.
The Integrated Specimen Transportation (IST) system is being implemented by the Ministry of Health and Child Care, through the Biomedical Research and Training Institution (BRTI), with support from the Global Fund, via the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The programme, which was rolled out in 2021, seeks to address the specimen (samples) and result transportation gap, through a well-coordinated transportation system.
Specimens like urine, stool, malaria parasites and blood for different tests are routinely transported from health facilities to labs, ensuring timely and effective treatment and improving patient outcomes and overall public health.
Ministry of Health and Child Care Director Laboratory Services and team lead for the IST system, Dr Raiva Simbi, said before the development of the system, the country had a haphazard way of transporting samples, resulting in longer turnaround time for results.
He said there had been a significant improvement in lab services since the beginning of the programme.
“We were using HIV viral load testing as a tracer test and we have managed to reduce our turnaround time from as much as three months to 11 to 15 days. In some instances, at the lower levels, the turnaround time is reduced to even a single day because of information systems that we have also deployed,” he said.
He said the programme had improved the country’s laboratory systems in terms of testing and enhanced accountability for all samples collected.
Since 2021, the programme has now been implemented in 63 districts at 341 clusters, served by 280 motorbikes and eight provincial vehicles.
UNDP resident representative Dr Ayodele Odusola said funding for the IST project had increased from US$3,7 million under the Global Fund cycle 6 to US$5,1 million allocated under the cycle 7.
“The overarching objective is strengthening the health resilience system in the country. Where before 2019, about 400 000 samples were done on an annual basis, we are now doing over a million samples, which is, again, one of the best results you can ever think about. And also when it comes to the issue of the impact on the ground, prior to 2019 when we started the full collaboration on this IST initiative, it would take about four to six months before the sample they collected translated into meaningful results but now it takes just about 72 hours and this is a tremendous achievement not only at the national level but regionally and also globally,” he said.
The investments in the IST have significantly improved treatment monitoring and diagnostics not only for HIV and AIDS but also for infants born with or exposed to HIV, TB patients, and various other illnesses.
Dr Odesula said the programme had contributed towards the achievement of the 95 95 95 UNAIDS targets to end AIDS.
Zimbabwe is among the few countries that have achieved the targets before the set timelines of 2025.
With laboratories across the country capacitated, the cost of getting a diagnosis early has been significantly reduced for the patients.
BRTI director general Dr Shungu Munyati said the IST programme was cost efficient and innovative.
“We have riders transporting samples from the different clinics to the districts, and then from the districts to the different provincial laboratories so that there’s a system that ensures efficient and fast delivery,” she said.
“Through the Lab system strengthening project, we have a drive to make sure that the labs are fully equipped to be able to do the different diagnostics and ensure that the laboratory scientists are also capacitated.”
In Bulawayo, the provincial reference lab at Mpilo Central Hospital has seen a 50 percent increase in the number samples being processed from 5000 in 2021 to 10 000 per month.
Chief Medical Officer at the institution Dr Narcisius Dzvanga said the programme had resulted in efficient tracking and accountability of both specimens and results.
“The integrated specimen transportation has seen the delivery of specimens to our main laboratory increase and also the return of results to the patients. The turnaround time for most of the specimens has been shortened because of this integrated specimen transportation. Mpilo has four riders, who cover the Bulawayo Metropolitan province and we have seen an increase of our specimens. We have also managed to maintain our ISO certification ISO certification and this has resulted in efficient tracking and accountability of both specimens and results. It has seen a significant reduction in specimen rejection rates with now less than 1 percent,” he said.
He said this had led to the reduction of turnaround time for most of the specimens to an average of 14 days on average.
Mpilo has also introduced a system whereby patients can get notifications through text messages that their results were ready thus ensuring that they only travel to the health facility when they are certain of the availability of their results.
Online Reporter