ENAS and CLSI - Improving Medical Laboratory Testing in the United Arab Emirates

Emirates National Accreditation System (ENAS) and the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) join forces in the pursuit of improving medical laboratory testing in the United Arab Emirates.

August 2019, Abu Dhabi—As the federal accreditation body in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), ENAS is pleased to announce their collaboration with CLSI in the pursuit of improving the quality and competency of all medical laboratories in the UAE. Since CLSI is one of the most reputable organizations in the field of laboratory medicine, especially when it comes to developing standards of practice; the aim of this collaboration between ENAS and CLSI is to add more value to the medical laboratories accredited by ENAS by offering highly competent expertise and exclusive trainings in the field of medical testing.

�Dr. Rehab Faraj Alameri, Director of the National Accreditation Department said: “Medical laboratory testing is one of most vital conformity assessment activities, as it has a direct impact on the quality and safety of the health care services that is provided to the patients. I seek that our collaboration with CLSI encourages all medical laboratories in the UAE to not only meet the standards as per ISO 15189, but also take initiatives to go beyond these standards and improve the practices that will ultimately provide safe and cost-efficient healthcare for all of the patients in the UAE.”

Mr. Glen Fine, CEO of CLSI said, “Standardization of medical laboratory testing practices is essential to ensure the most accurate and reproducible results. Implementing globally accepted medical laboratory standards ensures compliance to ENAS’ globally utilized ISO 15189-based accreditation process. For over 50 years, CLSI has been the most-trusted global source for medical laboratory standards. Through our collaboration with ENAS, laboratories in the UAE will be able to implement best practices that will ultimately ensure the provision of safer and more cost-efficient services to all patients.”

As the UAE has a unique system for monitoring and controlling conformity assessment activities of a list of scopes, including medical laboratory testing, this collaboration also supports the nation-wide mandate, for all medical laboratories to be accredited as per the standards of ISO 15189 within 2 years from the issue of the mandate. This initiative also supports the UAE vision to achieve a world-class healthcare system by the year 2021.

 

For further information about the ENAS and the mandatory accreditation of medical testing laboratories across the UAE, please visit their website: http://www.enas.gov.ae, or contact Ms. Dana Lutfi, ENAS Accreditation Officer at +97124032633, email: dana.c@enas.gov.ae.

 

CLSI sets the standard for quality in medical laboratory testing. A not-for-profit membership organization, CLSI brings together the global laboratory community for the advancement of a common cause: to foster excellence in laboratory medicine.

For over 50 years, our members, volunteers, and customers have made CLSI a respected, transformative leader in the development and implementation of medical laboratory testing standards. Through our unified efforts, we will continue to set and uphold the standards that drive quality test results, enhance patient care delivery, and improve health care around the world. By using CLSI standards, laboratorians can improve process quality, speed the development of standard operating procedures, and implement safer practices with greater ease and efficiency.