GLASS guidance for national reference laboratories

Overview

Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance requires reliable microbiological analysis of clinical specimens, and national reference laboratories (NRLs) play a key role in supporting AMR surveillance in countries.

Important functions of NRLs include the provision of guidance and support to clinical laboratories in the surveillance system for adopting national standards and protocols for microbiological analysis. The NRL works in tandem with the national AMR surveillance coordinating centre to define strategies for AMR surveillance. The NRL also plays a key role in confirmation and timely reporting of emerging resistance to allow prompt and effective prevention and control.

NRLs are a central part of national surveillance systems in countries, with a key role in public health and in the diagnosis of a range of diseases. This technical guidance focuses specifically on the functions and activities of NRLs for national surveillance of AMR. Details of the various functions are provided, including reference functions such as confirmation and characterization of resistance mechanisms, quality control for surveillance sites, external quality assessment, outbreak support, guidance and standardization, test validation and verification, providing training, data collection and analysis for national surveillance of AMR and laboratory assessments.

Countries can use this technical guidance to establish or improve NRL capacity within the national AMR surveillance system. Increased laboratory capacity in countries and rapid, accurate diagnostic testing will significantly strengthen global AMR surveillance and diagnostic stewardship.