Semen analysis workshops in India and Africa: the vital role of training and external quality control programmes

Two hundred and fifty seven individuals from 16 African and Indian andrology laboratories attended several -semenology workshops from 1997 to 2013. The external quality control programme in Africa indicated the ability of participants to maintain the technology skills following a hands-on training. The pre-training sessions of the workshops indicated a total lack of knowledge how to perform a semen analysis according to the WHO manual. This was the case for morphology, motility and concentration. The results of this report underline the vital role of training as well as external quality control programmes.