Regional approach to strengthening biosafety and biosecurity systems in Africa

Figures & data

Figure 1. Biosafety and Biosecurity Index scores of the 54 African countries included in the 2019 Global Health Security Index Report.

Table 1. Regional priority areas for biosafety and biosecurity strengthening.

Capacity Building	Training	HCAT List	TWG/Biosafety Association/Body
Policies/Legal Framework Development/harmonisation of biosafety and biosecurity legal framework, legislations and guidelines Development of a regulations for biomedical waste management Establishment of a licensing/certification programme for high-containment facilities for both human and animal facilities Human Resource Development of a long-term training and capacity-building plan that covers pre- and in-service training curriculum Establish a Training and Certification Program for Biosafety and Biosecurity experts Infrastructure Construct/upgrade laboratories facilities to meet international standards for biosafety and biosecurity Equipment Servicing and maintenance of BSCs Servicing and maintenance of high-containment facilities for all human, animal and agriculture International standards Evaluation/assessment of high-containment facilities for compliance to standards Research Identification of priority research areas in biosafety and biosecurity Advocacy Develop and implement advocacy and communication strategy for biosafety and biosecurity	Biosafety and Biosecurity for Lab Professionals Biosafety and Biosecurity Auditors Waste Management Occupational Health and Safety IPC Certification and maintenance of BSCs Certification and Maintenance of High-Containment Facilities and biorepositories Genomics & Bioinformatics Bioethics and dual-use research of concern ISO 35001;2019 standards Risk assessment and Risk management Lab-Based Surveillance Threats Hazards Identification and Risk Assessment	Development of the High Consequence Agents and Toxin List (HCAT) Conduct inventory of high-consequence agents and toxins in the country Development of pathogen data sheets Surveillance of HCAT-listed pathogens	Establishment/strengthening of national Biosafety and Biosecurity Associations Establishment/strengthening of national biosafety and biosecurity TWGs

*Table adopted from the Africa CDC Biosafety and Biosecurity Initiative Report on the Consultative Process to Identify Priorities for Strengthening Biosafety and Biosecurity available at https://africacdc.org/download/africa-cdc-biosafety-and-biosecurity-initiative-report-on-the-consultative-process-to-identify-priorities-for-strengthening-biosafety-and-biosecurity/.

Figure 2. The five priority areas of the Africa CDC Biosafety and Biosecurity 5-Year Strategic Plan (2021–2024).

Table 2. Summary of the biosafety and biosecurity initiative priority areas and the outputs for the period April 2019 to October 2022.

Priority Area	Outputs	Comment
Regional Biosafety and Biosecurity Legal Framework	• Draft Legislation submitted to African Union for review and approval.	Draft reviewed and adopted by the African Union Specialized Technical Committee (STC) for Health (June 2022), Population and Drug Control. Draft reviewed adopted by the Executive Council during the 2022 Lusaka Summit (July 2022) Draft reviewed and recommended for implementation by STC Justice and Legal Affairs (December 2022)
	• Domestication of the Legislative Framework	22 Bilateral Advocacy and communication meetings conducted with Member States (April 2021- March 2022)
		Conducted legal mapping and developed of a domestication roadmap for Zambia (October)
Establishment and operationalisation of Regional Biosafety and Biosecurity Technical Working Groups (RBB-TWGs)	• 5 RBB-TWGs established and operationalised	Each RBB-TWG has conducted 9 virtual meetings and 5 in-person meeting between 2020 and 2022
Establish a Regional Training and Certification Program for Biosafety and Biosecurity Professionals (RTCP-BSBP)	• A RTCP-BSBSP developed• 16 from 8 Southern African Countries (Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia) professionals trained and certified in Biorisk Management• 19 from 10 Southern African Countries (Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe) professionals trained and certified in Biological Waste Management	RTCP-BSBSP Officially launched April 2020 with 4 areas of specialization of (i) Biorisk Management (ii) Biological Waste Management (iii) Installation, certification, servicing and maintenance of Biological Safety Cabinets and (iv) Management of High-containment facilities A 15 Member Examination and Certification Committee established to independently monitor implementation of the RTCP-BSBP A Regional Centre of Excellence for Biosafety and Biosecurity for Southern Africa Region Established at the Regional Diagnostics and Demonstration Centre at the National Institute of Communicable Disease, South Africa
Establish a regulatory and certification framework for institutions handling high-risk pathogens	• A Regulatory and Certification Framework for Institutions Handling High-Risk Pathogens developed• 15 Regional Assessors from 8 countries (Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, Botswana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya) trained on the Regulatory and Certification Framework• 21 implementors from 9 countries (Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, Tanzania, Morocco, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and Nigeria trained as trainers on the Regulatory and Certification Framework
Strengthen NPHI and NRL capacities to prevent, detect and respond to events of public health concern in each MS	• A Biosafety and Biosecurity in the Context of COVID-19 pandemic was developed and implemented in 10 countries (Kenya, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Sudan, Liberia, Uganda, Niger, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo)	The 6-Day Training of Trainers program was developed to specifically address biosafety and biosecurity requirements for COVID-19 testing

Figure 3. Summary of the Regional Training and Certification Program for Biorisk Management, Biocontainment Engineering and Biological Waste Management.

Figure 4. Summary of the Regional Training and Certification Program for Selection, Installation, Maintenance and Certification of Biological Safety Cabinets.

Figure 5. Components of the regulatory and certification framework for institutions handling high-risk pathogens in the Africa region.

Figure 6. Status of implementation of the BSBS 5-year (2021–2025) strategic plan.