About Us » Newsroom » Khalid Irshad Pharmaceuticals (KIP) Achieves ISO 9001:2008 Quality Status in Afghanistan
International Organization for Standardization
On August 4th 2009, at a well publicized and attended ceremony held at the Ministry of Public Health in Afghanistan, Khalid Irshad Pharmaceuticals (KIP), a local strategic supplier to the USAID-funded COMPRI-A Social Marketing Project implemented by Futures Group International, was officially awarded the prestigious ISO 9001:2008 certification for its quality product production and overall pharmaceutical operations.
The ceremony was attended by H.E. Dr. Fatimie, Minister pf Public Health, H.E. Karl Eikenberry, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Mr. Peter Argo, Deputy Mission Director for USAID, Dr. Hamayon, Director of Khalid Irshad Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Suturia of Lakshy Consulting Company as well as many other public and private health sector representatives.
Recently, Khalid Irshad Pharmaceuticals in collaboration with an international recognized certification body from India obtained ISO 9001:2008 certifications for its facility which was achieved by the end of May 2009. When this happened, KIP became the first ISO certified pharmaceutical company in the commercial history of Afghanistan. This certification was thoroughly documented for dissemination to and discussions with other local Afghan Pharmaceutical companies in order to help increase the quality of local pharmaceutical product suppliers to internationally acceptable levels.
To achieve a productive collaboration with the private sector, the MoPH and senior private sector representatives have determined the need to increase the level of international quality assurance and quality control standards in order to ensure the MoPH Leadership and that the local Pharmaceutical production sector can and will improve its own abilities to produce and deliver high quality and affordable key health products to the Afghan market. The ISO 9001:2008 certification of KIP is an important and symbolic first positive step in this direction.
H.E. Ambassador Eikenberry, H.E. Minister Dr. Fatimie, and Dr. Hamayon from KIP at ISO Certification Ceremony
H.E. Dr. Fatimie, Minister of Public Health, stated “that it was his great honor to congratulate Khalid Irshad Pharmaceutical Company for achieving this prestigious certificate of ISO 9001:2008 and he would like to thank the US Government, USAID and Futures Group International for all their great support and contribution to this achievement. All these efforts will help contribute toward improving the health of the Afghan population especially those of mothers and children within Afghanistan.”
H.E. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry also commented that “the private health sector providers are key stakeholders within Afghanistan and can be real partners in the provision of quality health products and services that result in positive public health outcomes. In order to demonstrate the value and potential importance of the private sector, Khalid Irshad Pharmaceuticals is a great example of what can be achieved with targeted investments. The level of product quality now in place at Khalid Irshad Pharmaceuticals is at international standards and this is the first time this has been achieved by any pharmaceutical company within Afghanistan.”