Nigeria  joined the worldwide celebration of the 2021 World Metrology Day on May 20 with the theme “Measurement for Health”.

A statement from the office of the Director General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mallam Farouk Salim disclosed that the theme of the 2021 celebrations as released by the Bureau International des Poids et Measures (BIPM) and the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) is in tandem with the realities of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

According to him, this theme was chosen to create awareness of the important role measurement plays in health, and thus in the wellbeing of every one of us.

Mallam Salim stressed the need to ensure that all measuring instruments in the health care delivery sector give accurate values to support medical personnel in delivering quality services.

This he said necessitated recent investments by SON in re-equipping the National Metrology Institute (NMI) for greater efficiency in calibration of measuring equipment nationwide

Across the world, national metrology institutes continually advance measurement science by developing and validating new measurement techniques at the necessary level of sophistication, he said.

The SON Chief Executive reiterated that national metrology institutes, including from Nigeria participate in measurement comparisons coordinated by the BIPM to ensure the reliability of measurement results worldwide.

Salim stated further that the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) develops international recommendations, which aim to align and harmonise requirements worldwide in many fields. The OIML according to him, also operates the OIML Certification System (OIML-CS) which facilitates international acceptance and global trade of regulated measuring instruments.

These international metrology systems provide the necessary assurance and confidence that measurements are accurate, providing a sound basis for global trade today and helping us to prepare for the challenges of tomorrow, according to Salim.

The SON Chief Executive stated that the offshore conformity assessment programme for SON regulated imports (SONCAP) provides a window of import permit for raw materials, equipment and machinery and urged stakeholders in the health care delivery sector to take optimum advantage of it to improve the quality of products and services being offered to Nigerians.

He said further that local manufacturing of medical equipment and machinery stand to gain a lot in accuracy of measurements from the calibration services being offered by the SON promoted National Metrology Institute (NMI) located in Enugu with outreaches across the country.

Salim posited that the World Metrology Day recognises and celebrates the contribution of all the people that work in intergovernmental and national metrology organisations and institutes throughout the year.

He called on all public and private sector organisations in Nigeria to take optimum advantage of the capacities being built at the National Metrology Institute to ensure accuracy of all measuring instruments particularly in the health care delivery sector in the spirit of the theme of the 2021 World Metrology Day celebrations.

According to him, the services of the NMI, Enugu in ensuring accuracy of measurements in industry, trade and commerce is being expanded to all parts of Nigeria starting with Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt to bring its services nearer to stakeholders across the country and ensure great reduction in turnaround time

to promote rapid industrialization through standardization.

Salim disclosed that the Management of SON has provided substantial discounts for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to enjoy the services of the NMI in support of the Federal Government’s economic diversification programme.

He stated that the NMI has over the years, developed capacity in primary standards of measurement in volume, flow, pressure, length and dimension, mass, force, temperature, electrical and metrology in chemistry amongst others for traceability of all secondary standards of measurement in Nigeria and the West African Region.

The SON Chief Executive urged major stakeholders in the health care delivery sector including professional bodies and regulatory institutions to factor accuracy of measuring instruments into their activities in order to deliver quality products and services for the wellbeing of Nigerians.