FUTURE
OF
HEALTH
CARE
IN
INDIA
-Mr
Anil
Relia,
Director
NABL
Medical
laboratories
are
critical
part
of
healthcare
system.
A
patient’s
diagnosis
and
treatment
are
often
based
on
test
results
and
incorrect
test
results
can
lead
to
misdiagnosis,
which
could
have
potentially
fatal
consequences.
Exact
number
of
laboratories,
which
exist
in
the
country,
is
not
known.
It
is
estimated
that
India
has
about
one
lakh
medical
laboratories
at
present.
There
is
a
need
to
provide
quality
laboratory
services
to
users
of
medical
laboratories.
NABL
is
fulfilling
this
need
by
providing
accreditation
services
to
Medical
Labs
in
India
based
on
ISO
15189
standard
“Medical
Laboratories-‐Particular
requirements
for
quality
and
competence”.
To
improve
accuracy
of
test
results,
medical
laboratories
around
the
world
have
begun
adopting
ISO
15189
standard.
In
India,
NABL
is
an
accreditation
body
for
laboratories
and
is
under
the
aegis
of
Department
of
Science
and
Technology.
NABL
is
signatory
to
ILAC
(International
Laboratory
Accreditation
Co-‐operation)
&
APLAC
(Asia
Pacific
Laboratory
Accreditation
Co-‐
operation)
Mutual
Recognition
Arrangements
(MRA).
Recently
Ministry
of
Health
mandated
NABL
accreditation
for
all
medical
laboratories
empanelled
by
CGHS
and
the
laboratories
under
Centre
and
State
Govt.
hospitals.
Now
there
are
about
500
accredited
medical
laboratories
but
this
number
is
very
small.
As
the
confidence
of
general
public
in
accredited
labs
is
building
up,
many
more
are
coming
forward.
This
number
is
still
very
small
and
there
is
a
need
to
scale
up
awareness
programmes
for
general
public
and
laboratories
so
that
number
of
laboratories
offering
quality
services
increases
exponentially.
Initial
establishment
of
quality
requires
expenditure
and
many
interested
laboratories
are
unable
to
take
the
plunge.
High
cost
of
controls,
reference
materials
and
proficiency
testing
programmes
are
proving
a
financial
burden
on
many
laboratories.
To
reduce
the
financial
burden
on
laboratories,
NABL
has
initiated
accreditation
of
proficiency
testing
providers
as
well
as
reference
material
providers.In
coming
times
more
and
more
Indian
laboratories
will
be
able
to
serve
the
community
at
affordable
cost
and
this
will
benefit
the
a
large
number
users
of
lab.
Users
of
medical
services
at
grass
root
levels
are
unable
to
access
to
modern
diagnostic
facilities
available
at
metropolitan
cities.
Moreover
there
is
dearth
of
skilled
personnel
in
medical
fields.
To
overcome
this
POCT
and
in
vitro
diagnostic
kits
can
be
developed
so
that
screening
can
be
done
at
primary
level.
These
devices
can
be
used
by
trained
unskilled
personnel
to
make
diagnostic
services
available
to
masses
at
all
levels.