Validation of Dried Tube Sample Format Quality Controls for the Monitoring of Viral Load and Blood Screening Assays

•Dried Tube Samples (DTS) have been used for external quality assessment schemes (EQAS).•Homogeneity and stability of DTS have been demonstrated to be suitable for quality control (QC) programs for HIV RNA viral load and blood screening.•DTS can be transported at ambient temperature, does not require importation permits or shipping as UN3373 biological goods.•An international validation study demonstrated DTS is a suitable sample type for QC programs.•Unexpected variation in testing was detected using DTS QC.