Plateau Human Virology Centre receives international accreditation
The Plateau Human Virology Research Centre (PLASVIREC) laboratory has been accredited by the International Standards Organisation (ISO) in recognition of its standard medical laboratory science practices and procedures.
Mr Dennis Mordi, Senior Manager, Communications, Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN), disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja.
Mordi quoted the Facility Manager, IHVN, Mr Ille Mamman, as saying that the ISO15189:2012 accreditation meant that results from PLASVIREC are comparable to those from any other laboratory in the world.
Mordi said Mrs Sophia Osawe, Senior Programme Officer, IHVN, led the accreditation efforts.
“IHVN had prepared the facility to attain this standard through the WHO Stepwise Laboratory Quality Improvement Process towards Accreditation (SLIPTA) programme which involved several trainings, workshops and mentoring.
“The training, workshops and mentoring were conducted in collaboration with the African Society of Laboratory Medicine (ASLM),’’ Mordi said.
He also quoted Mrs Bimpe Balogun, IHVN Programme Manager, Laboratory, as saying that the era of misdiagnosis of diseases like HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis had become a thing of the past.
Mordi quoted Balogun further as saying that laboratory results from PLASVIREC had been certified to be accurate, reproducible and timely.
While commenting on behalf of the Plateau State Specialist Hospital management, Dr Pam Datong, said that the achievements at PLASVIREC were a model of true long-term partnership.
He said the partnership was between the Plateau State Government, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland and IHVN.
He said the partnership aimed at developing a diagnostic research facility that had served the state well and had continuously raised the level of clinical diagnostics.
Datong said procedures such as the collection of patient samples, interpretation of test results, early infant diagnosis of HIV, and other medical emergencies were reviewed and improved upon over several years to enable achievement of this feat.
The Chief Executive Officer, IHVN, Dr Patrick Dakum, said the accreditation through the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) was heartwarming news.
He commended IHVN and PLASVIREC staff who worked diligently to ensure that the laboratory gained international recognition.
According to Dakum, PLASVIREC is the third public health laboratory in the country to be accredited.
“ The Center for Human Virology and Genomics at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research and the APIN Jos University Teaching Hospital Laboratory have also been endorsed internationally through such accreditation,’’ Dakum said.
The IHVN boss said that IHVN was also preparing some laboratories in Nasarawa, Kano and Kaduna States as well the Federal Capital Territory to attain international accreditation.
He said the laboratories are in Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia, Nasarawa State; Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano; University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Abuja.
Others are the National External Quality Assessment Laboratory, Zaria, Kaduna State, and the Asokoro Laboratory Training Centre in Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja. (NAN)
