“As public servants and Secretary Duque being our Secretary of Health and former Civil Service Commissioner, the whole of DOH is undertaking a Performance Governance System (PGS) accreditation and RITM is one of them,” informs OIC Director IV Dr. Celia Carlos to the RITM community during the ISO Audit Opening Meeting on April 4, 2019.

TÜV Rheinland, the pioneering international certification body, conducted its 2nd Follow-Up Audit of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) on April 4 to 5, 2019.

In her message, Dr. Carlos emphasized the need to strengthen and maintain the quality of products and services that RITM offers to its stakeholders. “The rationale being government agencies is directly responding to the needs of the public. And therefore the public must feel the effect of the government services. In other words, an agency’s services should create an impact to the public.”

“RITM is trying to rise up to the challenges and we will try to adhere to standards required by ISO 9001:2015,” says Dr. Carlos.

The two-day audit was headed by Lead Auditor Ms. Jean Laguitao along with Mr. John Francis Faustorilla Jr. and Mr. Eric Santos. The follow-up audit was conducted to assess the management system conformity of RITM with the purpose of maintaining the Institute’s existing ISO 9001:2015 certification. Specifically, the audit assessed the Institute’s provision of administrative, medical services, biologicals production, and research and development including knowledge and technology transfer.

Day 1 of the audit focused on Top Management, Internal Quality Audit, Clinical Research Division (CRD), Biologicals Manufacturing Division, Risk and Opportunities updates, Administrative Division, and Laboratory Research Division (LRD). Day 2 was dedicated for Committees and Offices Under the Director’s Office and remaining departments and offices from CRD and LRD.

On April 5, the audit team led by Ms. Laguitao presented the consolidated audit findings for RITM at the Closing Meeting at the RITM Auditorium. RITM received seven (7) commendations, 26 opportunities for improvement (OFIs), and three (3) non-conformities (NCs).

by Ma. Patricia Lansang, Communication and Engagement Office