In March 2022, national mentors from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan met in Bukhara, Uzbekistan for biosafety and biosecurity training – a key component of quality management systems (QMS) for laboratories. National mentors provide ongoing support and disseminate knowledge to national laboratories.
The mentoring programme is designed to strengthen clinical and public health laboratories through the implementation of a QMS based on the international quality standard ISO 15189:2012.It creates and nurtures a network of experts throughout the central Asia region, delivering new and vital knowledge to laboratories in the countries where they work.
The 3.5 day training course consisted of theoretical and practical sessions, with a focus on biological risk management for COVID-19. It covered good microbiological practices and procedures, risk assessment and control measures, engineering controls, personal protective equipment (PPE) and biosafety programme management.
A workshop also provided coaching to help laboratory trainers implement training programmes for their colleagues. The biosafety and biosecurity training package was developed by WHO/Europe, based on the Laboratory Biosafety Manual Fourth Edition, published in December 2020.