The fifth edition of the National Technical Workshop (NAT) brought together experts and collaborators from the Institute of Technology in Immunobiology (Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz) and representatives of the fourteen Blood Centers in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, in October. Almost a year after the inclusion of hepatitis B virus (HBV) as the last target of the NAT diagnostic kit, the meeting was worthwhile to, besides strengthening the blood network, exchange experiences and reports about the test improvement. In the opening, the Bio-Manguinhos director, Artur Couto, reinforced this thesis.
"The NAT Workshop is an opportunity that we have to listen to the blood centers and in this specific edition, we want to know your experiences in the inclusion of HBV," he said.
In view of the changes in the Ministry of Health, Couto reassured the participants and stated that the NAT service is already a state policy, not only from governments. "We will continue working to promote the service and the control of blood in Brazil. The ministry and we will make any efforts for that. "The person in charge of the Technical Assistance in Hematology of the General Blood and Blood Products Coordination, Bárbara Simões, stressed the importance of the meeting. "It's an opportunity for us to discuss the development and consolidation of NAT. An important moment that Bio-Manguinhos provides to exchange experiences and reports about testing sites," he said.
In addition to the exchange of experiences, the workshop allowed updates and access to new information. In the first presentation, MarceloAddas, consultant of the Ministry of Health, addressed the risk management as a process improvement tool. For him, risk management is an activity that needs to be continuous, being a cyclical process with the following steps: identify, analyze, evaluate, treat, monitor, analyze critically. Addasalso brought the new version of ISO 9001, published in August, and the changes in the principles of quality management." The new standard is focused on risk assessment and greater involvement of senior management, in addition to requesting organizations to take into account feedback from all stakeholders, not just their customers," he said.
The decision to include malaria as a fourth target of NAT diagnostic kit was based on the presentation of the researcher of the Tropical Medicine Foundation, Wuelton Monteiro, who spoke on Malaria in Brazil and in the world and the risk of transfusion transmission. For the researcher, the risk of urban malaria – which is very common in the peripheries of big cities - threatens people who have access to blood banks, which increases the chance of transmission. In the Amazon, asymptomatic malaria, where individuals do not feel the symptoms of the disease, can reach 85% of the population. To aggravate the situation, transfusion malaria has a high fatality rate. "There is a delay in the diagnosis of transfusion malaria, which is much more severe than malaria developed through vectors (mosquitoes)," he said.
At the end, the production deputy director, AntonioBarbosa, stressed the importance of holding the workshop. "This workshop is a priority for the Bio-Manguinhos board. It is very important to have feedback from blood centers, know their experiences with this product. This brings us inputs for the improvement of services, which is beneficial for all," he concluded.
Source: Manguinhos Journal – Article written by Rodrigo Costa Pereira
