Brief history of Pasteur Institute, Shillong

Introduction

Pasteur Institute, Shillong is the oldest and premier Institute erected to the Memory of His Majesty the King Emperor Edward VII by Public subscription in the then Bengal and Assam during the British Rule. The Foundation stone was laid by the then Chief Commissioner of Assam, Hon’ble Sir Archdale Earl K.C.I.E on the 4th November 1915.

The Institute was headed by successive Directors appointed by the British Authorities from Delhi and the first Director was appointed in 1917 and it was only after the year 1947 when our country attained its Independence that the appointments were made by the State Authorities of Assam until Meghalaya attained statehood in the year 1972. The Directorate of Health Services (Research) was created in the year 1987.

Pasteur Institute, Shillong was established on the lines of other Pasteur Institute in the country for the purpose of controlling diseases through the usage of vaccine. Accordingly, the Institute has contributed to this purpose through research and production of Vaccines like Neural Anti Rabies Vaccines and the Cholera, Typhoid and Paratyphoid Vaccines from the year 1917-2005 and 1922-1996 respectively. The production of these vaccines were stopped as per Government of India directives and already started administering Tissue Culture Anti Rabies Vaccine for OPD cases.

Besides, Pasteur Institute since the past many years has been playing an important role as a medical –

i) Laboratory Testing Centre
ii) a centre for diagnosis advice and treatment of rabies cases and other animal bites.
iii) in maintaining Cold Chain System for EPI/UIP Vaccines, AIDS and Vaccines for Meningococcal Meningitis, maintain Regional Blood Bank.

Units/Sections of the Institute as follows :-

Administrative Wing.

Technical -

1. Regional Blood Bank -

a) Blood Component Separation Unit

2. Combined Food and Drugs Laboratory

3. General Laboratory –

i) Haematology
ii) Microbiology
iii) Clinical Pathology
iv) Serology

4. Biochemistry Section

5. ARV OPD Section ( Inoculation)

6. Animal House

7. Sterilization Section