Addis Ababa - The Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) national laboratory accredited by the World Health Organization (WHO) to continue operating its duties as a National Polio Laboratory for Ethiopia. The laboratory-maintained its accreditation since 2001 though the onsite accreditation was not conducted for the past two years due to the pandemic. 

The annual National Polio Laboratory accreditation visit was conducted by WHO Africa Regional Office Polio Laboratory coordinator and accompanied team from 25-29 July, 2022. The accreditation visit was based on the past twelve month’s performance of the laboratory and the onsite accreditation assessments and the proficiency testing was held using WHO’s check list. All the units under the national polio laboratory such as polio virus isolation laboratory, Molecular Intera Typic Differentiation (ITD) laboratory and environmental laboratory became accredited based on the WHO accreditation criteria for the coming twelve months. 

The Ethiopian Public Health Institute national laboratory is one of the Global Polio Laboratory Network (GPLN), that are annually monitored for their adherence to quality indicators and it is part of the African Polio Eradication program since 1998. 

The laboratory is engaged on virological surveillance of Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases and on detecting contacts, including Environmental samples, coming from all regions throughout the country and follows the standardized WHO procedures.

The laboratory was continuously upgraded to perform many activities which includes polio virus isolation and identification for all polio suspected cases since 1997 and, to do molecular testing using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) since 2011. It was also further upgraded to perform molecular tests using Real Time PCR and intra typing differentiation (ITD) molecular test since 2012 with almost perfect marks on quality assurance checks. 

The ITD laboratory unit is also performing both ITD and vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) tests using WHO manual. 

WHO is supporting this laboratory in capacity building provision of laboratory supplies and other support since its establishment.