Integrated specimen referral system pilot in three provinces of Vietnam for human and animal health

Standardized specimen referral with proper packaging and transportation
management is crucial in ensuring biosafety and biosecurity. USAID’s
Infectious Disease Detection and Surveillance (IDDS) project supported the
development of an integrated and multisectoral specimen referral system
(SRS) in Vietnam that applies the One Health approach. Informed by
assessments of current specimen referral activities across the human and
animal health sectors, the development of an SRS in Vietnam was divided
into three phases: design, pilot, and evaluation. The pilot was
implemented between June 2022 and December 2023 in the three provinces of
Thai Nguyen (North), Binh Dinh (Central), and Dong Thap (South), Vietnam.
Critical aspects of the SRS under evaluation included specimen delivery
time and compliance with biosafety and biosecurity standards in packaging
and transportation. The SRS was established with customized services for
transporting potentially infectious specimens for 78 human and animal
health facilities in three provinces. The customized service for specimen
transport provided by a courier company was the predominant mode of
specimen transport in the established system. Proper packaging materials
and 300 incident handling kits were provided. Eight standard operating
procedures and one national guideline were established, and 28 training
courses were organized for human and animal health facility staff and the
courier company in three provinces and relevant hub locations to ensure
proper specimen packaging and transport practices. During the pilot
implementation, over 90% of 13,934 specimens were transported within the
targeted lead time. The developed SRS system addressed gaps and provided
effective integrated and multisectoral specimen referral services for
various types of disease specimens in Vietnam to strengthen the diagnosis
and surveillance of human and animal infectious diseases.