Centre to soon notify minimum clinical standards for handling, transporting diagnostic samples, Delhi HC told
The draft minimum standards for sample collection centres are currently being vetted by the legislative department of the Ministry of Law and Justice, the Delhi High Court was informed last week.
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Last week, the Supreme Court refused to interfere in the matter and sent it back to the high court for consideration. (File Photo)The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) last week informed the Delhi High Court that it is in the process of notifying the minimum clinical standards for handling and transporting diagnostic samples, with the policy currently undergoing legal vetting by the legislative department of the Ministry of Law and Justice.
The submission came before Justice Anish Dayal in a contempt petition by pathologist, Dr Rohit Jain, where he had highlighted the MoHFW’s “wilful disobedience” in complying with a January 2023 order by the Delhi High Court where it had directed the authorities to decide his application seeking notifying minimum standards when it comes to sample collection, transport, and sample collection centres.
Dr Jain, represented by advocate Mrinmoi Chatterjee, had stated that “no reasoned order or decision to implement minimum standards” regarding the same has been taken till May 2024.
The MOHFW told the court on July 18 that currently the guidelines of ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV) are in place, which include norms for collection, packaging and transport of specimens for testing for high-risk viral pathogens, as well as guidelines for collection, packaging and transport for COVID-19 samples.
In an affidavit filed on July 17 by MoHFW through its deputy secretary Rajesh Verma, the court was told that it had formed four sub-committees comprising specialists from pathology, biochemistry, haematology, and microbiology to formulate the minimum standards for sample collection and sample transport policy.
According to MOHFW, the subject experts held “detailed internal deliberations for formulating minimum standards for sample collection and sample transport policy,” following which the draft minimum standards were technically finalised and were also technically approved by the Director General of Health Services (DGHS).
“The minimum standards for sample collection centres, as approved by the NCCE [National Council for Clinical Establishments], are in the advanced stages of being notified in the Gazette of India. The draft minimum standards for sample collection centres are currently under legal vetting by the legislative department of the Ministry of Law and Justice,” MOHFW submitted.
Taking the ministry’s submission on record, the court instructed that the standards be notified expeditiously, with a direction that the process “may be accomplished within the next three months.”
In 2021, Dr Jain had sought the Delhi High Court’s directions to notify minimum standards regarding sample collection and transport, and sample collection centres, for all clinical establishments, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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