ISO Certification launched by NIH

ISLAMABAD-National Institute of Health (NIH) organised a ceremony on launch of ISO Certification. The event aimed to highlight the achievements of various institution’s departments. The chief guest of the occasion was Dr. Nausheen Hamid, Parliamentary Secretary, National Health Services Regulations and Coordination (NHSRC). The ceremony was chaired by Maj. Gen. Prof. Aamer Ikram, The Executive Director of NIH.

Prof. Aamer Ikram welcomed and briefed the audience about the achievement of ISO certification of all its divisions and departments simultaneously. He said that the certification revealed that NIH had sound quality system and demonstrated the technical competency. It also showed the ability to produce valid and reliable results in all fields of production.

Executive Director of NIH also talked about the Case Definition Book. He said that the book was a comprehensive guide for surveillance and response to epidemic-prone diseases in Pakistan. It described the steps needed for investigation of the source of the disease. These steps included sample collection and documentation of the risk factors, cases and contacts during diseases outbreaks.

Dr. Aamer said that the NIH team compiled guidelines for vaccines and anti-sera production. These guidelines were intended to facilitate the local manufactures in implementing modern qualities system and risk management approaches. These would help to meet the requirements of quality biological products and safeguarding public health.

He also told that the Field Epidemiology Training Program (FELTP) of NIH accredited for achieving excellence in field epidemiology training. The accreditation was awarded at the 10th Global TEPHINET Conference, USA. The Conference was co-hosted by Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, USA and Training Programs in Epidemiology and Public Health Networks (TEPHINET). It was further added that 1st batch of FELTP graduate also got MSc. Epidemiology Degree from UHS Lahore.

In the closing remarks, Dr. Nausheen Hamid said that the Government of Pakistan committed for improving the healthcare system within the country. She reappraised all the initiatives taken by Executive Director of NIH. She said it was fortunate for our healthcare system that we were advancing in its all fields of production, production and control of the diseases.

She also facilitated the process of recruitment of employees of BPS-01 to BPS-05 through balloting. NIH made the recruitment and allocated all types of quota including, minorities, disable candidate and regional quota as per government policy.