NHL – National Health Laboratory
The National Health Laboratory (NHL) is under the Department of Medical Services of Myanmar’s Ministry of Health and Sport. The International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI) has added Myanmar’s National Health Laboratory as a member institute.
The National Health Laboratory is responsible for routine laboratory investigation, special lab and public health work, human resource training, research, surveillance, and quality assurance. Additionally, the public health division is responsible for primary health care and basic health services, nutrition promotion, research, environmental sanitation, maternal and child health services, and school health services.
NHL is made up of 6 laboratory units, bacteriology, virology, parasitology & entomology, serology, mycology and immunology. The DNA lab is a specific branch.
The Pasteur Institute has a long history in Yangon, as it was first set up to combat rabies in 1904. An Eastern Daily Mail article dated October 9, 1907, describes a meeting “for the purpose of considering the establishment of a Pasteur Institute in Burma” that drew 800 of the city’s citizens.
The NHL has been established in 1963 from amalgamation of 5 institutional labs including Pasteur Institute
