Transfusion Transmissible Infections - National Reference Laboratory

14/08/2025

TTI? More like Totally Trained & Incredible! 🎓🧪

Here’s to our HIV & TTI testing grads—turning samples into success stories!

&guard

17/07/2025

ANNOUNCEMENT

Settlement of payments for the 2025 RITM NEQAS cycle should be made on or before 31 July 2025, 05:00 PM.

Please send an email to neqas@ritm.gov.ph for inquiries.

Good day!

All clinical laboratories/blood service facilities participating in the 2025 RITM NEQAS cycle are advised to settle their payment on or before 31 July 2025 (Thursday) at 5:00 PM, to avoid any inconvenience and delays. Shipment of Proficiency Testing (PT) panels will proceed only for participants with confirmed payments within the given deadline.

Announcements via email, our official website, and social media sites shall be made once the shipment schedule and test event have been finalized.

You may access the full advisory through this link: https://ritm.gov.ph/announcements/final-payment-deadline-and-updates-on-the-panel-shipment-for-the-2025-cycle-of-the-ritm-neqas/

Thank you.

22/05/2025

Visit ritm.gov.ph for more details!

𝟭𝟬 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗤𝗔𝗦 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀!

The 2025 RITM NEQAS Registration shall strictly close on May 31, 2025 at 11:59 PM PST. No extensons will be granted for registrration.

𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗟
Registration to the NEQAS programs shall only be accepted through the online portal: https://apps.ritm.gov.ph/neqas/

𝗣𝗔𝗬𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
1. For this year's cycle, RITM has expanded the available payment methods to include the Landbank e-Payment Portal, Manager's/Cashier's Check, and Modified Disbursement System.

2. Payment shall only be made upon verification of registration details and issuance of Order of Payment. Advance payments while registration is closed, and payments without Order of Payment will not be accepted.

3. Instructions for Participation in the RITM NEQAS and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are accessible via the RITM Laboratory Quality Assurance webpage: https://ritm.gov.ph/reference-laboratories/quality-assurance

𝗜𝗡𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦
For inquiries on any program, please email 𝗻𝗲𝗾𝗮𝘀@𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗺.𝗴𝗼𝘃.𝗽𝗵. Email will be used as primary mode of correspondence.

As a National Reference Laboratory for infectious diseases, RITM is mandated to provide External Quality Assessment Scheme (EQAS) to laboratories in the country
for bacteriology, TB mycobacteriology, parasitology, transfusion-transmissible infections, and SARS-CoV-2. An External Quality Assessment Scheme evaluates the performance of participating laboratories by
checking the proficiency of the technical staff performing tests and/or assessing the integrity of the entire testing process from sample receipt to releasing of test results.

Participation in EQAS as part of an overall laboratory quality assurance program is required under local regulatory policies for securing a license to operate.

08/05/2025

Registration for the 2025 RITM NEQAS programs is now open!

Please read through the details below on how to register.

𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗤𝗔𝗦 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡!

The 2025 RITM NEQAS Registration shall strictly close on May 31, 2025 at 11:59 PM PST. 𝗡𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗟
Registration to the NEQAS programs shall only be accepted through the online portal: https://apps.ritm.gov.ph/neqas/

𝗣𝗔𝗬𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
1. For this year's cycle, RITM has expanded the available payment methods to include the Landbank e-Payment Portal, Manager's/Cashier's Check, and Modified Disbursement System.

2. Payment shall only be made upon verification of registration details and issuance of Order of Payment. Advance payments while registration is closed, and payments without Order of Payment will not be accepted.

3. Instructions for Participation in the RITM NEQAS and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are accessible via the RITM Laboratory Quality Assurance webpage: https://ritm.gov.ph/reference-laboratories/laboratory-quality-assurance/

𝗜𝗡𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦
For inquiries on any program, please email 𝗻𝗲𝗾𝗮𝘀@𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗺.𝗴𝗼𝘃.𝗽𝗵. Email will be used as primary mode of correspondence.

As a National Reference Laboratory for infectious diseases, RITM is mandated to provide External Quality Assessment Scheme (EQAS) to laboratories in the country
for bacteriology, TB mycobacteriology, parasitology, transfusion-transmissible infections, and SARS-CoV-2. An External Quality Assessment Scheme evaluates the performance of participating laboratories by
checking the proficiency of the technical staff performing tests and/or assessing the integrity of the entire testing process from sample receipt to releasing of test results.

Participation in EQAS as part of an overall laboratory quality assurance program is required under local regulatory policies for securing a license to operate.

07/05/2025

To the blood service facilities, please take note of the schedule for the opening and closing of our NEQAS registration.

For questions or concerns, kindly direct them to the NEQAS RITM team via email at neqas@ritm.gov.ph.

02/05/2025

Please read through this advisory to be informed of the 2025 NEQAS RITM program updates.

Good day!

All participants of the RITM NEQAS are advised to await the official announcement of the registration dates for the following programs: Bacteriology, Mycobacteriology, Parasitology, Transfusion Transmissible Infections, and SARS-CoV-2. The announcement shall be posted on our official website (https://ritm.gov.ph) and social media sites (https://www.facebook.com/ritmneqas/).

We have expanded our payment methods to the following:
• Landbank e-Payment Portal
• Manager’s/ Cashier’s Check
• Modified Disbursement System

NOTE: Payment shall only be made upon verification of registration details and issuance of the Order of Payment. Payments made in advance while the registration is closed will not be accepted.

You may access the full advisory through this link: https://ritm.gov.ph/announcements/2025-ritm-neqas-registration-and-expanded-payment-options/

Thank you.

01/05/2025

Let us all congratulate the new batch of proficient medical technologists! 👏👏👏

At your service for keeping our blood safe from infections 🅰️🅱️🅾️🆎

07/03/2025

Thank you to all our attendees for the support and active participation 🙌

We look forward to meeting you all in person soon.

𝐈𝐂𝐘𝐌𝐈: 𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐌 𝐓𝐓𝐈-𝐍𝐑𝐋 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬

The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), through its Transfusion Transmissible Infections - National Reference Laboratory (TTI-NRL) successfully conducted its third stakeholders meeting on February 26, 2025 via the Webex platform. The virtual event was attended by more than 200 representatives from different blood service facilities (BSFs) in the country, as well as partners from the Department of Health – National Voluntary Blood Services Program (DOH-NVBSP).

Read more about the event here: https://ritm.gov.ph/ritmtti-nrl3rdstakeholdersmeeting/

07/02/2025

Congratulations to our colleague, Ms. Paula Janica Masancay-Montañano for being selected as the Western Pacific Representative for the ISBT (International Society of Blood Transfusion)!

Read through the article below and let us all extend our congratulations to Ms. Paula as she takes on this additional role🩸.

From Central Office Meet the new members of the Young Professionals Council Late last year - we conducted interviews for new members of the Young Professional Council. After careful consideration, we selected 5 new members, get to know them a little better below! Zainab Harb - Eastern Mediterranean....

24/01/2025

ATTENTION!

In order for us to serve you better, please take note of the advisory on the submission of reactive blood units for confirmatory testing to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.

𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐒/ 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌 𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐒/ 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐒, 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐇 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐒, 𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒/𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐂

SUBMISSION OF SPECIMENS TO THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR TROPICAL MEDICINE
(RITM) FOR REFERENCE LABORATORY TESTING (OUTBREAK, ROUTINE SURVEILLANCE, CONFIRMATORY TESTING, RESEARCH)

In line with our ongoing efforts to enhance operational efficiency and uphold the highest standards of quality, all disease referring units are required to abide by the following to ensure the timely processing and integrity of submitted specimens:

● All specimen shipments should be planned ahead and arranged to arrive at the RITM Laboratory Specimen Reception Area on weekdays (Mondays to Fridays only) during regular working hours (8:00 AM to 5:00 PM only).
● Ensure that proper specimen transport conditions are maintained.
● Adhere to the established cut-off days and time for specimen submissions. Visit the RITM Laboratory Services page on the RITM website to check:
https://ritm.gov.ph/services/laboratory-services/

Should you have any questions or require further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us at the following email addresses:

● Public Health Unit: sru@ritm.gov.ph / ritmsu@gmail.com
● Clinical Laboratory - Reception Area:ritmclinlab@gmail.com

23/01/2025

The DOH - National Voluntary Blood Services Program has shared Department Circular No. 2025-0014 entitled, "Roll-out of the National Voluntary Blood Services Program (NVBSP) e-Learning Courses in the Department of Health Academy Website", for dissemination and reference.

The said courses can be accessed through the following links:

1. Training on the Blood Donor Selection and Counseling:
tinyurl.com/BDSCManual
2. Training on the Blood Stations Manual:
tinyurl.com/BSManualNVBSP
3. Training on the Blood Collecting Units Manual:
tinyurl.com/BCUManual
4. Training on the Hospital Blood Bank Manual:
tinyurl.com/HBBManual
5. Training on Blood Center Manual:
tinyurl.com/BCManualNVBSP

For Hospital Blood Banks with Additional Functions, you may access the manual through this link:
tinyurl.com/HBBPlusManual

21/01/2025

The Department of Health (Philippines) has shared the
Revised National Reference Laboratories National External Quality Assurance / Proficiency Testing Application and Schedule of Fees (Department Memorandum No. 2025-0522).

Please read through the details below.