PGI's Virology Department lab gets WHO accreditation

Chandigarh, June 5

National Measles Lab at the Department of Virology, PGI, got the WHO accreditation for carrying out serology and molecular testing for measles and rubella.

Under the aegis of the World Health Organisation (WHO), a delegation, headed by Dr Deepa K Sharma and Dr Nirmal Kaundal from WCO-India (WHO country office, India), and Dr Purva Sarkate from the National Centre for Disease Control, New Delhi, visited the Department of Virology, PGI, for the fourth external audit.

The lab started molecular testing for measles and rubella and this was the first external audit for molecular testing. To keep up with the ambitious global goal of measles and rubella elimination by 2023, the Department of Virology in association with the WHO has been instrumental in outbreak surveillance for the past six years and had also recently initiated case-based surveillance in a phased manner. The delegation also met Prof Vivek Lal, Director, PGI, and appreciated the efforts made by the lab in keeping the timeliness of reporting in spite of huge workload of Covid-19 diagnostics.