RITM – Research Institute for Tropical Medicine
The original building facilities of RITM, which included a laboratory wing and a 50-bed hospital for patients with infectious diseases requiring tertiary care, were inaugurated on April 23, 1981. In 1984, RITM’s facilities were expanded to include a building for animal research and laboratory animal breeding.
The RITM Center for Training in Tropical Infectious Diseases was established for in-country and third country training activities in 1989.
In 2000, RITM was designated as the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for dengue, influenza, enteroviruses, measles and other viral exanthems, polio, tuberculosis and other mycobacteria, bacterial enteric diseases, mycology, emerging diseases, malaria and other parasites.
The Laboratory Research Division is composed of:
- Microbiology Department
- Pathology Department
- Parasitology Department
- Virology Department
- Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Reference Laboratory
- Immunology Department
- National TB Reference Laboratory (NTRL)
- Entomology Department The department is primarily involved in the conduct of basic and applied researches on vectors of mosquito-borne infectious diseases such as malaria, dengue, filariasis, and Japanese encephalitis. This includes field and laboratory studies on vector mosquito biodiversity and density, as well as insecticide resistance monitoring activities for the assessment of implemented vector control measures. It also conducts entomological investigations in relation to outbreak of mosquito-borne diseases.
- Molecular Biology Department
- Veterinary Research Department