Only 198 accredited labs in 555 govt medical colleges!! — study finds big India health loophole
According to a study that found 198 NABL-accredited labs across 555 government medical colleges, most government medical college hospitals in India do not offer important diagnostic tests.
The NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) is a government-recognized organisation that accredits all testing laboratories.
Researchers from PGIMER-Chandigarh, Government Medical College Baramati, and Manipal Hospital Yeshwanthpur Bangalore conducted the study. It was published in the journal Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine last month.
The researchers want to emphasise that during the pandemic years, the majority of NABL accreditations were given to Covid testing labs, with facilities for various other standard tests being unavailable in most medical colleges.
According to the study, the lack of labs not only forces patients to pay for private ones, but it also denies medical students the opportunity to gain the necessary lab-related skills.
In general, three types of labs were found in the colleges studied: molecular pathology (193), microbiology (54) and biochemistry (24) Hematology and immunohematology (19), histopathology (13), cytopathology (11), flow cytometry (7), clinical pathology (11), cytogenetics (3), and genetics were the other categories (1).
According to the study, the significantly high number of molecular pathology and microbiology laboratories is due to the Covid pandemic, as the emphasis was on having facilities that meet the standards to ensure reliable SARS-CoV-2 reports.
“Prior to the Covid pandemic, there were probably only about 10 to 20 NABL microbiology laboratories.”
or molecular pathology labs across the country,” one of the study’s authors, Dr. Sanjay A. Pai of Manipal Hospital-Yeshwanthpur, told ThePrint.
Pai acknowledged that many hospitals, both public and private, expect patients to have diagnostic tests performed by private diagnostic centres. “This means the patients will have to pay out of their own pockets.” What about the students at those universities? “They end up graduating with no experience with basic diagnostic tests,” he explained.
He added that NABL accreditations are about meeting the bare minimum of safety standards. “While this will not happen overnight,” Pai said, “having relevant data can at least help the government make relevant policies to address the issue.”
Common facilities
In order to maintain a balance in laboratory facilities, the study suggested that the National Medical Commission — the apex body regulating medical education and professionals — and scientific bodies collaborate with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Given that laboratory instruments are typically expensive and frequently need to be replaced, the study proposed constructing common facilities that can be used by all medical institutes located nearby.
“As a result, one hospital could perform and offer flow cytometry services to other teaching hospitals in the area, while another could offer specialised coagulation services, and so on,” according to the study.
