National List of Essential Diagnostics (NLED) 2025

National List of Essential Diagnostics (NLED) 2025 : Recently, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) released the revised National List of Essential Diagnostics (NLED) 2025, marking a major step forward in decentralising healthcare testing across the country.

• About NLED : The ICMR introduced the first NEDL in 2019, recognising diagnostics as a core component of the healthcare system.

o Specifies the most basic and essential diagnostic tests that should be accessible at all levels of healthcare, right from village-level sub-health centres and health & wellness centres to primary health centres and beyond.

o India : First country in the world to formally release a national list of essential diagnostics.

• List includes : General laboratory tests for a wide range of common conditions.

o Disease-specific tests for major communicable and non-communicable diseases such as HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis, dengue, malaria, and region-specific diseases.

• Since 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that countries develop and adopt their own NEDL to ensure access to In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVDs) at various levels of the healthcare system, including facilities without on-site laboratories.
• Key additions to the 2025 NLED include diagnostics for sickle cell anaemia, thalassaemia, hepatitis B, syphilis, dengue, tuberculosis, diabetes, hypertension, and latent TB infections.