Ms. Perla F. Baje of the Philippine Accreditation Bureau discusses better regulatory compliance through accreditation.

The Philippine Accreditation Bureau (PAB) demonstrated its support to the Healthcare Service Industry by participating in the Board of Investments’ (BOI) “International Certification Awareness Seminar” held at the Makati Palace Hotel in Makati City on 13 December 2019. The BOI Infrastructure and Services Industries Service (BOI-ISIS) division invited participants from healthcare facilities that are licensed by the Department of Health (DOH) or officially accredited by the Department of Tourism (DOT which have the potential of expanding the Medical Travel and Wellness Tourism Industry.

The activity aims to improve the healthcare services delivery system of the country and prepare the growing Medical Tourism and Wellness Travel Industry resulting in more income generation and employment opportunities for healthcare personnel.  It also hopes to influence both the private and public DOH-licensed health care facilities to consider international certification to achieve global competitiveness through higher standards of safety and quality in healthcare services as mandated under the new Universal Health Care Act of 2019.

PAB through Ms. Perla F. Baje, the Head of the Laboratory Accreditation Division (LAB) shared how the bureau contributes to better regulatory compliance by performing its mandate of accrediting conformity assessment bodies and working with other agencies to create more streamlined conformity assessment services. Harmonized conformity assessment provides regulators with a means to enforce national health safety and environmental legislation.

Ms. Baje stressed that accreditation is voluntary in nature but would become mandatory once regulators include it as prerequisite in issuing licenses or compliances. The DTI-PAB is working with the Department of Health (DOH) in streamlining and harmonizing conformity assessment functions such as: licensing, recognition and accreditation services. A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between these two government agencies is being finalized that would require DOH’s National Reference Laboratory to be accredited by PAB on relevant standards and use accreditation or accredited conformity assessment services for its facilities and clients.

PAB being the national accreditation body of the Philippines, advocates for the use of accreditation and accredited conformity assessment. In medical sector, accreditation ensures consistent high level of care and increases confidence in outcomes and results through tests or other conformity assessment activities done competently, reliably, impartially and in accordance to the international standards or specifications.

Apart from its initiative in the health sector, PAB strives to create more harmonized conformity assessment through continuous dialogues with regulators and other government agencies. These are just some of the few efforts of PAB in making better regulatory compliance while eliminating the redundancies of the conformity assessment activities across the government sector. PAB will continue this strategy to support the ease of doing business and ensure the provision of safety and quality to the consumers and the general public.

Release Date: 16 December 2019.