With Tuberculosis (TB) at an incidental rate of 661 per 1, 000, the Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL), which operated under the National Department of Health (NDoH), facilitated refresher trainings across the 22 provinces.

Last week saw East New Britain Province (ENBP) health professionals from the 16 Basic Management Units (BMU) underwent a refresher training on microscopy and GeneXpert.

With new technology, algorithms, software updates, protocols, molecular testing guidelines, and assay versions like GeneXpert Ultra, the training was considered important for upskilling.

Speaking at the opening of the week-long refresher training, CPHL Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) representative Jennifer Dume stated that the identified health professionals in BMUs were upskilled to a level to meet the high number of TB incidental rates.

“We are just upskilling their knowledge and their practical skills to keep laboratory skills sharp and ensure accurate, reliable results and also to reduce error and contamination rates.”

Every effort driven by the PNG National TB Program had the goal of detecting at least 70% of infectious cases and curing at least 85% of newly detected cases of smear-positive TB.

Further still, the program aimed to reduce the prevalence of deaths due to TB.

The one-week refresher training kept staff aligned with current WHO and national standards.