BEP Supports WHO Workshop on Laboratory Biosafety & Biosecurity in Africa

24 Aug 2007

The Biosecurity Engagement Program (BEP) co-funded the World Health Organization (WHO) Sub-Regional "Biosafety and Laboratory Biosecurity Awareness Raising Meeting," in Nairobi, Kenya, 28-31 May 2007. The meeting brought together delegates from national public health and veterinary laboratories of 21 countries in Africa. WHO experts provided training in the principles of laboratory biosafety and biosecurity for the safe handling, storage and transport of biological materials, particularly highly pathogenic avian influenza and other infectious diseases. Co-funding of this workshop supported BEP's global mandate to foster the safe, efficient and secure use of pathogens for human and animal health. The 21 countries in Africa invited to the meeting included: Botswana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.