Background: Profi ciency testing (PT) has been implemented as a form of External Quality Assurance (EQA)
by the National HIV Reference Laboratory in Kenya since 2007 in order to monitor and improve on the
quality of HTC services.
Objective: The purpose has been to compare concordance between National HIV Reference laboratory, and
HIV testing and counseling (HTC) facilities.
Design: A telephone survey was conducted to access consistencies in PT schemes. An independent EQA
assessment questionnaire was developed and pretested on a randomly chosen sample of HTC facilities.
Setting: HTC facilities selected from Client-initiated HTC and Provider-initiated HTC facilities, within
Nairobi County.
Subjects: The HTC facilities were randomly selected (n = 45).
Results: Overall results indicated inconsistencies and tremendous increase in non-participation in PT
schemes. Gender χ² (5, N = 45) = 13.83; p= .017, experience using rapid test kits χ² (5, N = 45) = 5.417; p =
.020, and current facility ever participating in any PT scheme χ² (5, N = 45) = 15.38, p= .009, had signifi cant
eff ects in participation in PT schemes. Some facilities experienced test kits stock-outs most of the time (2.552
≥ 3.777), while others sometimes (1.326 ≥ 2.551), t (43) =3.105; p= 0.003. However, there was no link between
non-participation in PT schemes and test kits stock-outs.
Conclusion: The results generated by the study revealed inconsistencies in PT schemes and Test Kits stockouts
from 2012 up to May 2014. These fi ndings will assist in the full adoption of HTC policy guidelines and
ensure each and every HTC personnel participate in all PT quarters consistently. Challenges in forecasting,
and quantifi cation remains a major barrier to HTC supplies.