The Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC) is reporting that since the launch of the Pre-Accreditation Approval Programme (PAAP) for coronavirus (COVID-19) testing, in January 2021, three entities have been certified under the programme.
“We would like to celebrate granting pre-accreditation approval for COVID-19 testing to three medical facilities. These facilities are the first Point-Of-Care Diagnostic Test (POCT) facilities to be endorsed by our agency under PAAP,” Chief Executive Officer of JANAAC, Sharonmae Shirley, said at a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’ on February 26.
“They are the Oneness Health Centre Limited in Montego Bay, the Windsor Wellness Centre in Kingston, and the Dunrobin Medical & Wellness Centre in Kingston. These facilities successfully demonstrated their competence and commitment to providing quality services that the public can trust,” she said.
The PAAP is designed to support the demand for an expanded national COVID-19 testing regime. The programme is an initiative led by the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Commerce, through JANAAC, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, to reduce conditions that may give rise to unauthorised facilities conducting COVID-19 testing on the black market.
“These entities were assessed against 12 minimum requirements, summarised from the ISO 15189:2012 standard (clinical samples) and the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 standard (non-clinical samples). However, within two years of obtaining pre-accreditation approval, all successful PAAP applicants, including these three facilities, will be expected to transition to the respective general accreditation programmes,” Ms. Shirley said.
She highlighted that in keeping with national requirements for data gathering to influence the design and implementation of mitigation and control measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, all approved labs and POCTs that perform or analyse a test to detect COVID-19 must report positive test results to the Ministry of Health and Wellness, using the designated reporting channels.
“JANAAC’s robust assessment and monitoring of the labs and POCTs will contribute to the consistent quality of test results used to determine patient care and to strengthen the national COVID-19 prevention and containment strategies. Therefore, we are urging more facilities to participate in the programme,” Ms. Shirley said.
She pointed out that the technical service provided by JANAAC for its pre-accreditation Approval Programme is heavily subsidised by the Government and excludes all internal JANAAC costs.
“Applicants will only be required to pay for travel-related costs [as applicable] and external fees. This provides an advantage to a wider cross section of labs and POCTs to seek endorsement as official COVID-19 testing providers,” Ms. Shirley noted.
“The costs for the assessment of a single entity are $88,000.00 (the cost to assess unaccredited medical and testing labs for PCR tests) and $40,000.00 (the cost to assess point-of-care testing providers using antigen test kits). Additional charges may apply for follow-up visits if applicable during the assessment stage,” she added.
Ms. Shirley informed that JANAAC will publish on its website (www.janaac.gov.jm) a list of all the entities awarded pre-accreditation certificates to offer COVID-19 testing services.
“We will also share the list with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the media and the Consumer Affairs Commission for dissemination,” she noted.
Details of the JANAAC PAAP along with the application form can be found on its website at www.janaac.gov.jm. Interested persons may also call (876) 968-7790/968-7799 to make enquiries via telephone. All completed forms can be emailed to servicerequest@janaac.gov.jm.
Source: https://jis.gov.jm/
