Modern PHRL to be set up: KMU, KP Health dept, NIH sign accord

Khyber Medical University (KMU) Peshawar, KP Health department and National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad in the presence of Speaker Provincial Assembly Asad Qaisar signed an agreement to establish modern Public Health Reference Lab (PHRL) at KMU-IBMS, here on Thursday
VC KMU Professor Dr Muhammad Hafizullah, Additional Secretary Health KP, Masood Younas and Executive Director NIH Islamabad Dr Mukhtar Ahmad signed the MoU.
Besides Speaker PA Asad Qaisar, DG Health Services KP Dr Said Ali Khan, Director IBMS-KMU Professor Dr Jawad Ahmad, Deputy Director Public Health DG Health Office KP Dr Shaheen Afridi, Director ORIC KMU Dr Zia ul Haq, faculty, researchers and other stakeholders were also present on the occasion.
According to the details of MoU the proposed PHRL will enable detection, characterisation and tracing of disease transmission which is essential for the prevention and control of public health events. The PHRL will generate information that is essential for guiding responses to infectious disease outbreaks by public health practitioners, epidemiologists and clinicians; and framing directions for health policy and strategy with regards to communicable diseases.
The PHRL shall be governed and operationalized by two bodies - Oversight committee which shall be responsible to make strategic and policy decisions for all matters pertaining to Lab and the other one will be Technical Committee which shall be responsible to closely oversee the technical aspects of the Lab with special emphasis on the management of the facility.
According to this MoU, two floors in IBMS building will be allocated for PHRL which will initially be focusing on lab confirmation for notifiable communicable diseases; the ambit of which will be further expanded to non-communicable diseases in the future. To rollout the process of establishment of PHRL Dr Zia Ul-Haq, KMU, Dr Shaheen Afridi, Department of Health KP and Dr Uzma Aamir, NIH Islamabad were identified as focal persons from their respective organisations.