NIH becomes member of IANPHI

Islamabad
The National Institute of Health (NIH), Pakistan, has become a member of the International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI), a global initiative that aims to develop strong National Public Health Institutes (NPHIs) in different countries across the world.
The IANPHI, which has a strength of over 100 member NPHI institutes from 88 countries, also facilitates alliances among NPHIs and strategic partners to catalyse support for and investment in NPHIs, and develops benchmarks and tools that countries, NPHIs, and peer-assistance teams use to assess, develop, and improve NPHIs and optimise delivery of core public health functions.
The National Institute of Health, Pakistan, began as the Bureau of Laboratories in Karachi in June 1948. However, in 1960, a National Health Centre was established in Islamabad as a unified public health facility whose various units were merged in 1974 into one organisation named National Health Laboratories (NHL). In 1980, NHL was made an autonomous body of the Ministry of Health through a Presidential Ordinance and was renamed National Institute of Health (NIH). Its principal function was to serve as the premier public health services institute and to foster international and regional collaboration through participation in global disease control activities.
Currently, NIH has five major Divisions, a College of Medical Laboratory Technology, and support departments to facilitate financial, administrative and engineering functions. Four public health programmes of the Ministry of Health are also based at NIH. In March 2015 NIH submitted a request for participation in the IANPHI programme led by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which was accepted in November 2015.
As a member of IANPHI, NIH will benefit from the knowledge and scientific expertise of similar organisations. The membership will help NIH to strengthen its capacity as a national leader in public health and support Pakistan’s commitment towards fulfilment of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) and its antecedent obligations. Evidence-based, focused disease control policies and programme driven by relevant public health priorities is a long-term investment for overall health sector improvement and continuing development.