Taddese et al. J Infect Dis Epidemiol 2019, 5:085 Volume 5 | Issue 4 DOI: 10.23937/2474-3658/1510085 ISSN: 2474-3658 Journal of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Open Access Taddese et al. J Infect Dis Epidemiol 2019, 5:085 Citaton: Taddese BD, Kitla KT, Misganaw AS, Desalegn DM, Hailu TK, et al. (2019) Implementaton of Same-Day Sputum Smears Microscopy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Programmatc Qualitatve Study. J Infect Dis Epidemiol 5:085. doi.org/10.23937/2474-3658/1510085 Accepted: July 17, 2019: Published: July 19, 2019 Copyright: © 2019 Taddese BD, et al. This is an open-access artcle distributed under the terms of the Creatve Commons Atributon License, which permits unrestricted use, distributon, and reproducton in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. • Page 1 of 5 • Implementaton of Same-Day Sputum Smears Microscopy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Programmatc Qualitatve Study Boja Dufera Taddese 1* , Kumera Terfa Kitla 1 , Abay Sisay Misganaw 2 , Daniel Melese Desalegn 1 , Tinsae Kidanemariam Hailu 3 and MeronSeifu Tebeje 3 1 Ethiopian Public Health Insttute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2 Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 3 Addis Ababa Health Bureau, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia *Corresponding authors: Boja Dufera Taddese, Ethiopian Public Health Insttute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Abstract Introduction: In countries that have ensured effective Ex- ternal Quality Assessment (EQA) sputum smear microsco- py, World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the implementation of same-day smear sputum microcopy. In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the status of the same-day sputum smear microcopy implementation was not yet assessed. Objective: To assess the status of same-day sputum smear microscopy implementation in Health Facilities (HFs) of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from June to September 2018. Methods: In-depth interview of Health Care Providers (HCPs) at Outpatient Departments (OPDs), clinical labo- ratories and Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) centres was conducted to assess the status of same-day sputum smear microscopy policy uptake, im- plementation and practices in selected HFs for the study. Check list based laboratory records review of 28 HFs were conducted to assess the status of same-day sputum smear microscopy implementation. Results: All public and only 1 (10%) of private HFs that were licensed to provide Tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic and DOTS services have implemented same-day sputum smear microscopy. In 10 (83.34%) public HFs that have implemented same-day sputum microcopy, smear results were available for presumptive and confrmed TB patients in batch in the afternoon. While confrmed TB patients were waiting for smear results until afternoon, it allows contact with non-presumptive patients that came to seek other health care services (might facilitates TB transmission) or some of the confrmed TB patients returned back to their home until smear results were available for them (might contributed to the diagnostic drop-out) and transmission of TB within the community. Conclusion: The implementation of same-day sputum smear microscopy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia didn’t com- ply WHO policy recommendation. Awareness creation for HCPs on same-day sputum smear microscopy implementa- tion and early anti-TB treatment initiation for sputum smear positives on same-day of their diagnosis reduces transmis- sion of TB and defaulter from diagnostic paths. Keywords Same-day, Sputum, Smears, Microscopy Abbreviations DOTS: Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course; HCPs: Health Care Providers; HFs: Health Facilities; OPDs: Out Patients Departments; REQAS: Regional Quality Assess- ment Scheme; SD: Standard Deviation; TB: Tuberculosis; WHO: World Health Organization ReSeARch ARTicle Check for updates Background Sputum smear microscopy remained the most wide- ly used test method in developing countries and is the means by which universal access to TB diagnosis and treatment can be achieved [1]. Even though the two- day sputum smear microcopy approach is beter in sen- sitvity, it allows many patents to make repeated visits to HFs for specimen delivery and sputum smear results collecton [2]. For many patents, the cost of repeated visit to HFs was prohibitve and defaultng from the di- agnostc paths was the major problem [1,2]. As result, WHO has recommended a reducton in the number of sputum specimens from the two days to same-day in