Bio-Rad Laboratories has joined hands with Quality Council of India (QCI) to organize nationwide quality awareness workshops for diagnostic centres and clinical laboratories. In addition to the four metros, over 30 small cities throughout the country have been covered through such programmes, Dhiren Wagle, Country Manager, Bio-Rad Labs informed. The seminars focus on the need for upgrading and maintaining laboratory quality, data management of quality control and laboratory accreditation ISO 15189.

"The focus is on the accreditation requirement for a laboratory and other relevant issues of quality maintenance in a clinical laboratory", Wagle informed. "The company is working with various regulatory agencies towards its endeavour of providing quality control products and information services to the general public which makes use of its diagnostic product range", he said.

The quality certification among Indian clinical laboratories continues to be dismally low and the number of accredited laboratories, among 50,000 odd laboratories that are functioning, is less than 100. Bio-Rad intends to utilize such seminars to bring awareness on the dire need to upgrade testing and diagnostic facilities in the country and to spread consciousness amongst the general public on the damage that unaccredited and rudimentary laboratories can cause them.

Bio-Rad India is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Bio-Rad Laboratories USA, a multinational manufacturer and distributor of life science research products and clinical diagnostics.