The Medical Laboratory of the Pasteur Institute in Cambodia has become the first medical laboratory in the Kingdom to be awarded ISO 15189 accreditation, following a six-year quality improvement initiative to meet international standards, laboratory deputy director Cheng Sokleaph said on Thursday.

ISO 15189, awarded by the French Accreditation Committee, specifies the quality management system requirements particular to medical laboratories. It is highest global accreditation of laboratory quality.

Sokleaph said the laboratory has implemented a quality assurance policy, in the context of its missions of diagnostic support and therapeutic assistance, in order to ensure the required quality of examinations and to be able to deliver results that are as reliable as possible.

“Following an audit in May 2018, the French Accreditation Committee has concluded that the Medical Laboratory was perfectly meeting the standard’s requirements and has decided to grant it the accreditation in the specific scope of clinical biology, biochemistry, hematology, infectious serology, bacteriology and the diagnosis of tuberculosis with GenXpert,” Sokleaph said.

She added that ISO 15189 accreditation demonstrates the technical competence of the laboratory and its operation of an appropriate management system.

“The laboratory is committed to finding the best possible ways of delivering quality services, aiming to deliver to its patients reliable results, on time, for efficient clinical use, maintaining complete confidentiality and tailored to each individual,” she claimed.