Varanasi, July 05: The Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) located at the Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS) of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has achieved a major milestone. The VRDL has been granted NABL accreditation by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) under ISO 15189:2012 standards for medical laboratories.
This prestigious recognition has been received for the quality, accuracy and excellence in diagnostic services and research of the laboratory. VRDL has played an important role in monitoring and diagnosis of viral diseases, especially in critical times like the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Saturday, VRDL Principal Investigator Prof Gopal Nath said that the laboratory conducted about nine lakh tests during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the last one and a half years, VRDL has conducted around 8000 tests for dengue, COVID, Japanese encephalitis etc.
He attributed this remarkable achievement of the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory to the dedicated efforts of Prof. Pradyot Prakash, Co-Principal Investigator, as well as the entire scientific and technical team. The team includes Dr. Sudhir Kumar Singh, Dr. Alka Shukla, Dr. Manoj Kumar, Dr. Mayank Gangwar, Deepak Kumar, Sonam Rastogi, Digvijay Singh, Pankaj Kumar, Ashish R. Singh, and Ajay Kumar.
He said that the NABL accreditation further strengthens IMS-BHU’s unwavering commitment to maintain international standards in laboratory diagnostics and public health services. Tests conducted in NABL accredited laboratories are accepted all over the world. Prof. S.N. Shankhwar, Director, BHU Institute of Medical Sciences, congratulated the members on this achievement.
Prof Shankhwar said that this laboratory is constantly upgrading itself and moving ahead in the direction of fulfilling the needs and expectations of public health.