Health ministry gets ISO certification

Islamabad: The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination has become the first federal Ministry to receive ISO 9001: 2015 certification for quality management system.

Minister for Health Saira Afzal Tarar received the ISO certification in a ceremony held here Wednesday. She congratulated officers and staff of the Ministry to have set an example in terms of professionalism, transparency and good governance.

Secretary Health Muhammad Ayub Shaikh said the initiative to obtain ISO certification was taken to transform the management system as per international best practices for improving governance and transparency. He further added that the certification will establish documented standard operating procedure for all functions of the ministry, which is going to make the system more efficient and productive. He said the ministry will continue to improve the quality management system to maintain ISO standards.

Dr. Assad Hafeez, director general health shared that the ministry will establish a Quality Assurance Cell for continuity and sustainability of the certification process. He said, 38 officers of the ministry have been trained as Quality Assurance Coordinators to implement the system as per requirements of ISO 9001: 2015 standard. The process of establishing a quality management system was initiated in October 2015 with the support of USAID.  The focal person for establishing the quality management system in the ministry said that the ISO 9001: 2015 is the latest version of the ISO, which is aimed at introducing transparency in procedures and enhancing efficiency.

Later, the minister distributed certificates of ISO training to officers of different departments of the ministry.