Army Confers Honorary Brigadier’s Rank On Dr. Arvind Lal – Dr. Lal PathLabs
ARMY CONFERS HONORARY BRIGADIER’S RANK ON DR. ARVIND LAL
Dr. Arvind Lal, Chairman and Managing Director of Dr Lal PathLabs, has been conferred the Honorary Rank of Brigadier in the Army Medical Corps.
President Pratibha Patil, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, granted this award to Dr. Lal in recognition to his outstanding contribution in the field of health care. The Brigadier’s rank was conferred on him at a ‘Pip-In’ ceremony by Lt. Gen. N. K. Parmar, Director General Armed Forces Medical Services.
Dr. Arvind Lal is a pioneer in bringing laboratory services in India at par with the West. Born on August 22, 1949, Dr. Lal is an alumnus of the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune, having received his graduate and post-graduate medical degrees from the prestigious institute. Later he worked as a Demonstrator (Lecturer) in the Department of Pathology in AFMC. In 1977 Dr. Lal took charge of the Pathology Laboratory founded in 1949 by his late father.
Under his expert guidance and leadership, Dr Lal PathLabs, the 60 years old Laboratory service provider has become one of the most reputed laboratories in Asia, having to its credit the highest number of eight accreditations from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India). He brought International recognition to the Indian Healthcare Industry in the form of accreditation from the College of American Pathologists (CAP – USA).
Dr. Lal has revolutionized laboratory medicine by introducing the maximum number of new tests, instruments and ICT (Information, Communications, Technology) systems i.e. his R & D unit is recognized by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. This unit has done India proud by developing the latest tests in Molecular Diagnostics like the Real Time PCR for HIV Viral Load Studies, Tuberculosis – India’s number one infectious disease and Genotyping for Hepatitis C Virus-the biggest killer of all liver diseases and the newly introduced Swine Flu test. The aim of the R&D division is to provide highly specialized tests at low cost to the weaker sections of the society.
Dr. Lal is a member of many expert and advisory bodies constituted by the central and the state governments. He is accredited by having the first PPP (Public Private Partnership) in the field of laboratory testing with the Government of Tripura since 2004. Dr. Lal is also an active member of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) Healthcare Committee and has played a significant role in promoting the Indian Healthcare sector abroad and also in promoting PPP initiatives with the union government. He is the founder Vice President of ACRO (Association of Clinical Research Organizations) for furthering the cause of Clinical Research in India. Dr. Lal was appointed as the Honorary Physician to the President of India in 2001. He has also been serving as a pathologist to many present and
past Prime Ministers of India. His laboratory is the nodal laboratory testing the largest number of government employees from CGHS, ECHS, Ministry of Railways, Delhi Government and many others.
Conferred with the Padma Shri award by the President this year, Dr. Lal has been honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award in Medicine, the Delhi Ratan Award and many others for his extraordinary contribution in the field of Laboratory Medicine. Under his leadership, in July 2008, his laboratory was bestowed, with the prestigious CNBC TV 18 and ICICI ‘Emerging India Award’ presented in London, U.K.
