The National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) is a South African national government institution established in 2001. It was created by merging the South African Institute for Medical Research (SAIMR), the National Centre for Occupational Health and the National Institute for Virology. It also absorbed various provincial health department and university-run pathology laboratories. The NHLS is the diagnostic pathology service for the public sector in South Africa. A network of 265 laboratories service all public hospitals and clinics in the country.

Divisions and subsidiaries

Besides the network of pathology laboratories operated by the NHLS the institution also has a number of specialist divisions:

National Institute for Communicable Diseases

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) was created by combining various structures inherited from the NHLS's parent organisations. The former National Institute for

Virology Virology is the Scientific method, scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host (biology), ...

was combined with the former SAIMR's specialist laboratories of

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

parasitology Parasitology is the study of parasites, their host (biology), hosts, and the relationship between them. As a List of biology disciplines, biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in questio ...

, and

entomology Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

to create a communicable diseases institute with a public health orientation, comparable to the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...

of the United States.

National Institute for Occupational Health

The National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH) investigates occupational diseases and performs occupational environment analysis through a variety of services which include statutory autopsy, advisory and information services, health hazard evaluation and specialist laboratory services. The services and units of the NIOH are: * Analytical Services *

Asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

Information, Identification, Counting, Monitoring and Evaluation Services * Autopsy Examination Services * Bioaerosol Monitoring Unit * Compensation Service * Diagnostic Services *

Electron Microscopy An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing i ...

Service *

Epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

Surveillance *

Ergonomics Ergonomics, also known as human factors or human factors engineering (HFE), is the application of Psychology, psychological and Physiology, physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Primary goa ...

Unit *

Genotoxicity Genotoxicity is the chemical property, property of chemical agents that damage the genetic information within a cell causing mutations, which may lead to cancer. While genotoxicity is often confused with mutagenicity, all mutagens are genotoxic, bu ...

Assessment Unit * Health Risk Assessment Unit * Industrial

Toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating ex ...

Information Services * Library Services * Micro and Nano - Particle Sizing * Occupational

Allergy Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, are various conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include Allergic rhinitis, hay fever, Food allergy, food al ...

Unit * Occupational Health Risk Assessments * Occupational Hygiene Audits * Occupational Hygiene Surveys * Occupational Medicine Referral Clinic * Particle Toxicology/Nanotoxicology Unit * Query Handling Service *

Toxicogenomics Toxicogenomics is a subdiscipline of pharmacology that deals with the collection, interpretation, and storage of information about gene and protein activity within a particular cell or tissue of an organism in response to exposure to toxic substan ...

Unit * Waterborne Pathogens Unit

National Cancer Registry

The NIOH also manages the National Cancer Registry which is responsible for analysing newly diagnosed cancer cases and to report annual cancer incidence rates. The NCR collects data from public and private

histopathology Histopathology (compound of three Greek words: 'tissue', 'suffering', and '' -logia'' 'study of') is the microscopic examination of tissue in order to study the manifestations of disease. Specifically, in clinical medicine, histopatholog ...

cytology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...

and

haematology Hematology ( spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the production ...

laboratories across the whole country.

South African Vaccine Producers

South African Vaccine Producers (SAVP) is a subsidiary of the National Health Laboratory Service, responsible for manufacturing vaccines and

antivenom Antivenom, also known as antivenin, venom antiserum, and antivenom immunoglobulin, is a specific treatment for envenomation. It is composed of antibodies and used to treat certain venomous bites and stings. Antivenoms are recommended only if ...

s. SAVP's Antivenom Unit is the only manufacturer of antivenom for a number of venomous snakes found in Africa as well as scorpion and spider antivenom.

Antivenom shortage

At the beginning of 2022 and for the following year, South Africa experienced a shortage of antivenom. The South African Vaccine Producers said that they faced several challenges, including equipment failure due to power outages and supply issues. Questions were raised as to why a five-year supply declined to a shortage of antivenom. The National Health Laboratory Service said it distributed antivenom to 124 facilities but demand was still exceeding supply.

Training

The NHLS is involved in training all pathologists in South Africa through its partnerships with all nine of the medical schools at South African universities.

Research

The NHLS is involved in pathology and health surveillance research through the pathology laboratories it runs at the medical schools. The partnerships with universities concentrate on a few priority areas;

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

occupational health Occupational safety and health (OSH) or occupational health and safety (OHS) is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work (i.e., while performing duties required by one's occupation). OSH is re ...

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

prevention,

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix or in any layer of the wall of the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later sympt ...

screening and pneumococcal infections.

Controversies

Finances

During 2011 the

Treatment Action Campaign The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is a South African HIV/AIDS activist organisation which was co-founded by the HIV-positive activist Zackie Achmat in 1998. TAC is rooted in the experiences, direct action tactics and anti-apartheid backgro ...

, an HIV/AIDS

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

criticised the national government for allowing the financial viability of the NHLS to be threatened due to the failure of the health departments of

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

and

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

to pay the NHLS for services rendered. The financial problems continued into 2012.

Labour disputes and irregularities in procurements

In September 2024, the

Labour Court A labor court (or labour court or industrial tribunal) is a governmental judiciary body which rules on labor or employment-related matters and disputes. In a number of countries, labor cases are often taken to separate national labor high courts. O ...

upheld the dismissal of former CEO Joyce Mogale and late CFO Sikhumbuzo Zulu who were fired in 2019; they had been suspended since February 2017 for irregularities in procurements totalling R200 million. The court also ordered Mogale to pay R22 million in damages to the NHLS. The court criticised the NHLS for inadequate control and accountability. Mogale is separately facing criminal charges for allegedly contravening the

Public Finance Management Act The Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (PFMA; Act No. 1 of 1999) is the primary public finance management law in South Africa. It delineates standards for expenditure, accounting, and reporting for public entities. Its scope is generally limited ...

References

{{authority control Medical research institutes in South Africa 2001 establishments in South Africa Government agencies established in 2001