Accredited Medical Labs Contributing to Health Service Quality, Says Office

Addis Abeba August 15/2020 (ENA) Medical laboratory accreditation awarded to health institutions in the country have been contributing to the development of the nation’s health service quality, the National Accreditation Office (NAO) said. 

National Accreditation Office Director-General, Araya Fesseha told ENA that health institutions so far accredited for laboratory quality are currently providing trustworthy medical services to their clients.

Some 53 health organizations were accredited in this concluded Ethiopian budget year, it was learned.

“We have conducted impact assessment on the contribution of accreditation on the overall quality of the health system. Based on the assessment, we were able to find that the medical laboratories accredited have improved the quality of the health care services,” the director-general said.

Besides contributing to quality, the medical institutions have helped to build costumer trust.  

According to Araya, “the interest for accreditation has been showing progress from time to time. For instance, the number of medical laboratories accredited in 2011 Ethiopian budget year was only 23. But in this concluded budget year, the number has jumped to 53.”

However, he noted that health institutions applying for accreditation are still very few when compared to the number of institutions operating in the country.  

“The accreditation we are giving is internationally recognized as we are member of the International Accreditation Association,” he said, adding that the office is “helping health institutions to provide globally standardized level of services.”

The Ethiopian National Accreditation Office offers accreditation services in calibration laboratories and testing laboratories in addition to medical laboratories.