Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | 2001 |
Preceding agencies |
|
Jurisdiction | South Africa |
Employees | ≈ 8000 |
Annual budget | |
Parent department | Department of Health |
Key documents | |
Website | www |
Map | |
The National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) is a South African national government institution established in 2001. It was created by merging the South African Institute for Medical Research (SAIMR), the National Centre for Occupational Health and the National Institute for Virology. It also absorbed various provincial health department and university-run pathology laboratories. [4]
The NHLS is the diagnostic pathology service for the public sector in South Africa. A network of 265 [5] laboratories service all public hospitals and clinics in the country. [6]
Besides the network of pathology laboratories operated by the NHLS the institution also has a number of specialist divisions:
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) was created by combining various structures inherited from the NHLS's parent organisations. The former National Institute for Virology was combined with the former SAIMR's specialist laboratories of microbiology, parasitology, and entomology to create a communicable diseases institute with a public health orientation, comparable to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States. [7]
The National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH) investigates occupational diseases and performs occupational environment analysis through a variety of services which include statutory autopsy, advisory and information services, health hazard evaluation and specialist laboratory services. [8]
The services and units of the NIOH are: [8]
The NIOH also manages the National Cancer Registry which is responsible for analysing newly diagnosed cancer cases and to report annual cancer incidence rates. The NCR collects data from public and private histopathology, cytology and haematology laboratories across the whole country. [9]
South African Vaccine Producers (SAVP) is a subsidiary of the National Health Laboratory Service, responsible for manufacturing vaccines and antivenoms. SAVP's Antivenom Unit is the only manufacturer of antivenom for a number of venomous snakes found in Africa as well as scorpion and spider antivenom. [10]
At the beginning of 2022 and for the following year, South Africa experienced a shortage of antivenom. The South African Vaccine Producers said that they faced several challenges, including equipment failure due to power outages and supply issues. Questions were raised as to why a five-year supply declined to a shortage of antivenom. The National Health Laboratory Service said it distributed antivenom to 124 facilities but demand was still exceeding supply. [11] [12] [13]
The NHLS is involved in training all pathologists in South Africa through its partnerships with all nine of the medical schools at South African universities. [5]
The NHLS is involved in pathology and health surveillance research through the pathology laboratories it runs at the medical schools. The partnerships with universities concentrate on a few priority areas; HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, occupational health, malnutrition prevention, cervical cancer screening and pneumococcal infections. [5]
During 2011 the Treatment Action Campaign, an HIV/AIDS non-governmental organisation criticised the national government for allowing the financial viability of the NHLS to be threatened due to the failure of the health departments of Gauteng and Kwa-Zulu Natal to pay the NHLS for services rendered. [14] The financial problems continued into 2012. [15]
Antivenom, also known as antivenin, venom antiserum, and antivenom immunoglobulin, is a specific treatment for envenomation. It is composed of antibodies and used to treat certain venomous bites and stings. Antivenoms are recommended only if there is significant toxicity or a high risk of toxicity. The specific antivenom needed depends on the species involved. It is given by injection.
The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney and is situated in proximity to the Blackburn Building of the university's main campus. RPAH is the largest hospital in the Sydney Local Health District, with approximately 1200 beds. Following a $350 million redevelopment, the perinatal hospital King George V Memorial Hospital has been incorporated into it.
The Pirbright Institute is a research institute in Surrey, England, dedicated to the study of infectious diseases of farm animals. It forms part of the UK government's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The institute employs scientists, vets, PhD students, and operations staff.
CSL Limited is an Australian multinational specialty biotechnology company that researches, develops, manufactures, and markets products to treat and prevent serious human medical conditions. CSL's product areas include blood plasma derivatives, vaccines, antivenom, and cell culture reagents used in various medical and genetic research and manufacturing applications. The company was established in 1916 as Commonwealth Serum Laboratories and was wholly owned by the Australian federal government until its privatisation in 1994.
Leonard Andrew Scheele was an American physician and public servant. He was appointed the seventh Surgeon General of the United States from 1948 to 1956.
The Instituto Butantan is a Brazilian biologic research center located in Butantã, in the western part of the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Instituto Butantan is a public institution affiliated with the São Paulo State Secretariat of Health and considered one of the major scientific centers in the world. Butantan is the largest immunobiologicals and biopharmaceuticals producer in Latin America. It is world-renowned for its collection of venomous snakes, as well as those of venomous lizards, spiders, insects and scorpions. By extracting the reptiles' and insects' venoms, the Institute develops antivenoms and medicines against many diseases, which include tuberculosis, rabies, tetanus and diphtheria.
A biomedical scientist is a scientist trained in biology, particularly in the context of medical laboratory sciences or laboratory medicine. These scientists work to gain knowledge on the main principles of how the human body works and to find new ways to cure or treat disease by developing advanced diagnostic tools or new therapeutic strategies. The research of biomedical scientists is referred to as biomedical research.
SA Pathology,, is an organisation providing diagnostic and clinical pathology services throughout South Australia for the public health sector. The headquarters are in Frome Road, Adelaide, and it has many patient collection centres and numerous laboratories located throughout South Australia.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) was a non-departmental public body in England. It was set up by the UK government in 2003 to protect the public from threats to their health from infectious diseases and environmental hazards.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, is one of the oldest and largest medical research bodies in the world.
Echis pyramidum, known as the Northeast African carpet viper, Egyptian saw-scaled viper, and by other common names, is a species of viper endemic to Northeast Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Like all other vipers, it is venomous. Three subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, also known by its abbreviation MoHFW, is an Indian government ministry charged with health policy in India. It is also responsible for all government programs relating to family planning in India.
A medical laboratory or clinical laboratory is a laboratory where tests are conducted out on clinical specimens to obtain information about the health of a patient to aid in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. Clinical medical laboratories are an example of applied science, as opposed to research laboratories that focus on basic science, such as found in some academic institutions.
The Faculty of Veterinary Science is a faculty of the University of Pretoria. Founded in 1920, it is the second oldest veterinary faculty in Africa. With the exception of the faculties in Khartoum, and Cairo, all the other African faculties were established after 1960. It is the only one of its kind in South Africa and is one of 33 veterinary faculties in Africa.
The National Centre for Disease Control is an institute under the Indian Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It was established in July 1963 for research in epidemiology and control of communicable diseases and to reorganize the activities of the Malaria Institute of India. It has nine branches at Alwar, Bengaluru, Trivandrum, Calicut, Coonoor, Jagdalpur, Patna, Rajahmundry and Varanasi to advise the respective state governments on public health. The headquarters are in Sham Nath Marg, in New Delhi.
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Biomedical sciences are a set of sciences applying portions of natural science or formal science, or both, to develop knowledge, interventions, or technology that are of use in healthcare or public health. Such disciplines as medical microbiology, clinical virology, clinical epidemiology, genetic epidemiology, and biomedical engineering are medical sciences. In explaining physiological mechanisms operating in pathological processes, however, pathophysiology can be regarded as basic science.
Brendan Scott CrabbFASM is an Australian microbiologist, research scientist and director and chief executive officer of the Burnet Institute, based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
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The Lancet Group of Laboratories, also known as Lancet Laboratories, is a private pathology service founded and based in Johannesburg, South Africa.