By Tricity News
Chandigarh 17th
April:- World
Health Organization (WHO), a delegation headed by Dr David Featherstone from
New Zealand and Dr Kaveri from KIPM&R, Chennai visited the Department of
Virology, PGIMER, Chandigarh on 16th and 17th April
2018 for the second external audit. The Department of Virology became the ‘WHO
National Measles Laboratory’ in 2015 and has been serving as the reference
centre for serological testing of measles and rubella and underwent an external
audit in 2016 as per ISO 15189:2012 standards. To keep up with the ambitious
global goal of measles and rubella elimination by 2020, Department of Virology
in association with WHO has been instrumental in outbreak surveillance for the
past three years and have also recently initiated case-based surveillance in a
phased manner.
In
the welcome address, Dr RK Ratho, Prof & Head, Department of Virology,
highlighted the current status of Measles and Rubella across the country and
emphasized the importance of effective vaccination coverage for these two viral
vaccine-preventable diseases. Dr Mini P Singh, Additional Professor & Laboratory in-charge further
showcased the departmental activities in her introductory presentation. The
department has been participating in external quality assurance scheme (EQAS)
with KIPM&R, Chennai and Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference
Laboratory (VIDRL), Australia for the past three years. Scoring
achieved in EQAS is directly proportional to the quality of reports generated
by any laboratory. The Department of Virology achieved 100% proficiency in
testing the blinded samples for Measles and Rubella serology, received from
VIDRL, Australia consecutively for third time.
During the two day visit, Dr
Featherstone critically analysed the entire process of serological testing of
measles and rubella in the department and gave his expert suggestions for the
same. A meticulous evaluation covering all aspects of testing was done by the
experts who appreciated the quality standards being maintained in the
department. The department has yet again achieved the status of WHO
accreditation for carrying out serology for measles and rubella.
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