The Syrian Clinical Laboratory Association (SCLA ) was established in 1974. The Association is a professional organisation for Laboratory Medicine profession in Syria . SCLA beside its professional activities maintain scientific and educational activities on regular bases including a National Conference every two years. SCLA supervise and run in collaboration with the Ministry of Health a National Programme for Quality Management; this program is mandatory for all Public and Private Medical Laboratories in Syria. SCLA practice its activities under the umbrella of both the Syrian Physicians Syndicate and the Syrian Pharmacists Syndicat e. SCLA is a founding member of the Arab Federation of Clinical Biology (AFCB) and an active member of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry & Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) .

SCLA is directed by seven members Executive Board, five of which are elected by representatives of SCLA branches, the other two members are appointed by the Physicians & Pharmacists Syndicates.
Each SCLA branch is directed by five members Executive Committee, three of which are elected directly by the branch members and the other two are nominated by the local branch of the Physicians & Pharmacists Syndicates.

900 Specialists in Laboratory Medicine have already joined SCLA up to 2004; SCLA has 12 branches covering all Syrian Provinces. Most SCLA members are practising in the private sector, but there are a large proportion of our members who are working in the public sector are maintaining a private laboratory at the same time.

Laboratory Medicine in Syria is governed by decree No. 8 of 1980 and SCLA' s Bylaw which was ratified by the Ministry of Health in 1990.