Canadian expertise boosts Latin American clean water effort

2002-04-16

Canadian experts are helping Latin American countries provide cleaning drinking water for their people. The Standards Council of Canada, the Canadian Association for Environmental Analytical Laboratories (CAEAL) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) have launched a joint effort to develop a drinking water testing accreditation system for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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A PARTNERSHIP FOR CLEAN WATER

The Challenge

Countries need to provide clean water for their people. In Latin America and the Caribbean, this need is the focus of a clean water initiative launched at the 1996 Summit of the Americas which seeks to implement programs, laws and policies aimed at ensuring drinking water quality. The clean water initiative was re-confirmed at the 2001 Summit of the Americas in Quebec, Canada.

One of the essential elements in this initiative is the provision of reliable, accurate testing of drinking water.

The Answer

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) through its Pan American Center for Sanitary Engineering and Environmental Sciences (CEPIS) is working with the Canadian Association for Environmental Analytical Laboratories (CAEAL) and the Standards Council of Canada and has created a partnership for clean water.

This voluntary program builds upon the successful Canadian laboratory accreditation program, which in turn is based on ISO/IEC 17025, the international standard for technical competence and quality in all areas of testing and calibration.

PAHO, CAEAL and the Standards Council signed an agreement in 2001 and launched their joint program on March 1, 2002.

This program will provide:

• Proficiency testing services for water analysis; and
• Site assessments of laboratories according to ISO/IEC 17025

The Standards Council will provide formal accreditation, that is recognition of the competence of the testing laboratories to perform specific water tests. By verifying that laboratories have the appropriate people, equipment and skills, accreditation will help to ensure the reliability of their results.

The Players

The Standards Council of Canada is a Crown corporation (a government agency operating along business lines) that oversees Canada's National Standards System. Its Program for Accreditation of Laboratories - Canada (PALCAN) has accredited over 300 laboratories in a variety of general and specialty testing areas. PALCAN and its partners (including CAEAL) have jointly obtained international recognition from the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC).

The Pan American Health Organization is an international public health agency with 100 years of experience. It serves as the regional office for the World Health Organization (WHO), and as the health organization of the Inter-American System. PAHO's mission is to strengthen national and local health systems and improve the health of the peoples of the Americas, in collaboration with Ministries of Health, other government and international agencies, non-governmental organizations, universities, social security agencies, community groups, and many others.

The Canadian Association for Environmental Analytical Laboratories is a not-for-profit association of public and private sector laboratories. A principal objective of the association is to promote and maintain a high level of assurance in analytical test data. To this end, CAEAL manages proficiency testing and site assessment programs that are tailored to meet the specific needs of water testing laboratories.

For more information:

Pan American Center for Sanitary Engineering and Environmental Sciences (CEPIS)
Dr. Mauricio Pardón Ojeda
+ 1 51 1 437 1077
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.cepis.ops-oms.org

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