The institution is named after Dr. Dyson Blair, the Secretary of Health who encouraged a young Zimbabwean-born scientist to address rural water and sanitation problems in the 1970s. This led to the development of the Blair toilet (or pit latrine) which revolutionised sanitation in many African countries.
The institution is a national centre for research, training and service in the fields of disease control, biomedicine and public health. World-trained medical practitioners have, over the years, been seconded to the institute, making it one of the most prestigious facilities in Zimbabwe.
The NIHR was established in 1939 and comprises the Health Systems Research Unit, which was established in 1981 in Harare and the De Beers Research Laboratory established in 1965 in Chiredzi. These three units form the Research Department of the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare. The NIHR is an affiliate institution of the University of Zimbabwe which also runs the nation's School of Medical.
Despite the change in title, senior officials from the NIHR spoke of the embarrassment of showing visitors around the institution which still uses outdated stamps bearing the ‘Blair Research Laboratory’ title.
Post published in: News
You should never try to erase your history. It serves well to remember the efforts of those who came before us and their overall contribution to the things that mattered. I find the new, generic name soulless.
I worked there for 5 years as a lab technician. I will never forget it, it was my favourite job until today. I worked with Dr Blair and was very privileged to know him, an intelligent and fair man. Unfortunately he passed away while I still worked there, he was missed by all. I left in 1983