April 2012: The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a guidance document, titled the “Laboratory Assessment Tool.” The document aims to assist stakeholders, including national authorities, multilateral agencies, NGOs and laboratory managers, in performing laboratory assessments, to assess both laboratories and national laboratory systems.

The 31-page guide describes a general process for assessing laboratories, providing assessment questionnaires for national laboratory systems and individual laboratory assessments. The questionnaires are provided in PDF format and as Excel files, which enable automatic calculations of module indicators.

According to WHO, the guide is based on internationally recognized standards and good practices governing laboratory services, but does not take into account specific national norms or regulations. [Publication: Laboratory Assessment Tool]