Islamabad healthcare authority fixes blood test cost

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Healthcare Regulatory Authority (IHRA) has fixed the maximum charges for the dengue NS1 test as Rs 1,800 and Rs 100 for the Complete Blood Count (CBC) test after experts and officials warned of a surge in dengue cases in the months ahead.

“All private hospitals, laboratories and collection centres conducting CBC and Elisa NS1 tests for dengue fever are hereby directed to fix the upper limit of Elisa NS1 as Rs 1,800 and CBC as Rs 100 till December 31, 2023”, an IHRA notification issued here said on Wednesday.

According to the notification, every laboratory conducting the Elisa NS1 for dengue has to mention the name of the machine used during the test, reagents/kits with their certification and the individual batch number of the test. The notification further states that all private hospitals, laboratories and collection centres should display the dengue test rates and added that in case of any grievances, patients can lodge a complaint to Islamabad Healthcare Regulatory Authority (IHRA). All the labs conducting the tests would be inspected by the inspection teams of the IHRA and in case of any violation, violators would be penalized, sealed or may face cancellation of their registration or even imprisonment.

Talking to The News, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the IHRA Dr Quaid Saeed said some labs were overcharging the patients for conducting dengue NSI tests and CBC and added that they have decided to strictly enforce their laws to safeguard the interests of the patients. “These directives have come into force immediately and we have conveyed these directives to everybody including the district administration. In case of any violation, the law will take its own course”, he added.