HUE, Vietnam — In early April Hue Central Hospital celebrated attaining the ISO 15189 International Accreditation Standards for its Microbiology Laboratory, with an official ceremony attended by hospital staff, representatives from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Family Health International (FHI360), and delegates from the Vietnamese Government.
This ISO accreditation marks a big step forward for Vietnam’s healthcare system, breaking new ground in quality laboratory management.
ISO requires management level attention to ‘quality’ and careful documentation so that all the components of the lab – such as staff, work space, equipment, work flow and reagents – meet the highest standard, ensuring accurate test results.
Recognized globally, ISO has played a big part in improving national health care systems
With funding by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), CDC Vietnam, in collaboration with FHI 360, is providing technical support to six laboratories to help them achieve ISO accreditation.
After the program’s first 18 months, three of the six laboratories have reached this important milestone, including Hue Central Hospital, and Ho Chi Minh’s Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital’s microbiology laboratory and Provincial Medicine Center HIV Laboratory.
Speaking to an audience of health experts and government officials, Director of Hue Central Hospital, Professor Bui Duc Phu, said that quality laboratory testing leads to effective patient
diagnosis, accurate identification of pathology and suitable therapies, and reliable monitoring treatment and prognosis – enhancing overall health care for clients who access services at government sites.
“Dependable test results also provide policy makers with essential scientific evidence,” he said. “And this can be used to develop effective strategies to estimate, manage, and track diseases.”
FHI360 representative, Dr Suresh Rangarajan, highlighted the importance of providing customers the best possible lab-based experience, defining the customer as “the patient, the nurse, and the doctor”.
“With ISO 15189, Hue General Hospital becomes part of a premiere group of hospitals – and you should become teachers for the rest of the country,” he said.
CDC Vietnam Lab Advisor, Humberto Carvalho, praised Hue Hospital’s laboratory staff for their tireless work and passion that bore fruit in successfully obtaining the ISO rating, and credited
lab management and the facility’s director for their ongoing support and commitment.
CDC and FHI are already working to launch another series of laboratory reviews to find new lab facilities to join the next round of the ISO program.