The Ministry of Health of Timor-Leste requested WHO consider designating the National Health Laboratory (NHL) in Timor-Leste as a National Influenza Centre. WHO coordinated a joint national and international laboratory assessment with participation of experts from WHO Collaborating Centers and Member States in the region. The assessment provided recommendations to fill existing gaps with a view to Timor-Leste’s NHL achieving NIC status at a future date.
Through support from the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework Partnership Contribution (PC), Timor-Leste has made substantial advances in strengthening their influenza laboratory and surveillance capacities – including for their sentinel surveillance network and integrating influenza and SARS-CoV-2 surveillance. Most notable was the establishment of the National Health Laboratory (NHL) and its influenza testing capabilities. Since 2016, the NHL has contributed to GISRS by sharing virological data to FluMart and sharing influenza viruses with WHO Collaborating Centres for characterization and risk assessment. They have participated and scored highly in the WHO External Quality Assessment Programme, and additionally played a vital role in establishing diagnostics capacities for SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, the Ministry of Health of Timor-Leste requested WHO designate the NHL as a National Influenza Centre (NIC). Experts from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in Melbourne, Australia joined forces with experts from the WHO Regional Office for South East Asia and key national stakeholders in a joint mission to review both Timor-Leste’s sentinel surveillance network and assess the NHL for NIC recognition. This involved key informant interviews with the NHL Director and staff members, a review of laboratory documents, evaluating NHL testing procedures on-site, and conducting field visits to observe specimen collection and transport procedures at sentinel surveillance sites.
Through the assessment, key areas for strengthening were identified, including addressing biorisk management, quality control procedures, and document management in the short-term, and equipment maintenance and calibration in the long term. The WHO Collaborating Centre also agreed to provide mentoring support to NHL staff to both implement the recommendations and achieve NIC recognition.
Support from the PIP PC and other donors facilitated the establishment of core capacities for influenza testing, and will continue to support the implementation of the recommendations from this assessment enabling the NHL in Timor-Leste to obtain NIC status in the near future.
