Laboratory Capacity Building

Laboratory capacity building was an important component of the BETV-SAM Project.

The Verification Program requires the accurate analysis, by local laboratories, of water samples taken during field tests of candidate technologies. This analytical data is used by BCSIR to judge technology performance and to decide if a candidate technology should be certified for use in Bangladesh, or rejected. If those laboratory data are inaccurate then poor decisions could be made, money wasted and public health compromised. It is essential, therefore, that BCSIR, as the Verification Authority, can have confidence in the analytical data generated by those laboratories.

The Government of Bangladesh's lead verification organization, the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) is equipped to provide complete analyses for arsenic and a variety of other water quality parameters. Some other public and private labs in Bangladesh can also produce good quality analytical data.

The BETV-SAM Project instituted quality control/quality assurance procedures and Round-Robin sample analysis that monitor and evaluate the accuracy of the analytical work carried out by the Bangladesh laboratories involved in the Verification Program.

The BETV-SAM Project also provided training to BCSIR's Analytical Research Laboratory in Dhaka in the application of ISO/IEC Standard 17025:2005 ("General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories"). This training enabled BCSIR's Analytical Research Division Laboratory to obtain ISO 17025 Accreditation from an international accreditation organization in 2009.

Finally, the BETV-SAM Project also provided technical assistance to DPHE labs, to assist them in preparing to support DPHE's role in the long-term monitoring and surveillance of ART use in Bangladesh.