Shillong, Aug 18: In a historic first for public healthcare in Meghalaya, Shillong’s Pasteur Institute, functioning under the Directorate of Health Services Medical Education and Research (DME&R), has become the first state government health facility to achieve national accreditation for two of its facilities – the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory and the Regional Blood Centre.
The molecular diagnostics lab at Lawmali has been accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) under ISO 15189:2022 – Medical Laboratories: Requirements for Quality and Competence. The accreditation is valid from July 27, 2026 to July 26, 2030 and certifies the laboratory’s competence in molecular diagnostics, including Real-Time PCR-based testing (Closed System) for Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (MTB) with Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) across a wide range of clinical specimens – including blood, CSF, tissue, sputum, body fluids and other biological samples.
Simultaneously, the Regional Blood Centre has been accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH), a constituent board of the Quality Council of India, for compliance with NABH accreditation standards on Blood Banks/Blood Centres and Transfusion Services, valid from July 23, 2026 to July 22, 2029.
This marks the first time a state government-run health facility has attained such national-level, dual accreditation. Such accreditation is not merely a certification but a rigorous, independent validation of the laboratory’s testing accuracy, staff competence, equipment calibration, biosafety protocols and overall quality management systems – assurances that directly translate into safer, more reliable diagnosis and treatment for the people of Meghalaya.
