Improving standards and quality at Provincial Public Health Lab (PHRL), Khyber Medical University, Peshawar by implementing Lab Quality Management System (LQMS)

Since 2016, UKHSA has been offering technical and logistic assistance to Department of Health across Pakistan to adopt and implement Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR). Public Health laboratories hold an essential role in an IDSR system. They provide timely diagnosis of communicable diseases to guide effective disease prevention measures.

UKHSA supported PHRL KP province in the development of quality documentation and the standardisation of work processes to meet international standards. UKHSA collaborated with PHRL to develop a comprehensive Lab Quality Manual to ISO standards and WHO guidelines. To fulfill the standardisation requirement, 36 other quality documents of the LQMS (i-e policies, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and workflow sheets etc.) were also developed by UKHSA provincial staff (Health Advisor and Lab Manager).

The Lab Quality Manual was presented at the 13^th Meeting of Small Group for Public Health Laboratories Network to representatives of Pakistan's National Institute of Health (NIH) and Public Health Laboratories of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan AJK and GB. UKHSAs efforts to improve public health laboratory standards and quality won the appreciation of the higher health official and technical focal points.  

Figure 1 13th Meeting of Small Group for Public Health Laboratories Network with the representation from Ministry of Health, NIH, DAI Fleming Fund, WHO and Technical focal points of Labs across Pakistan