Developing Norms for the Provision of Biological Laboratories in Low-Resource Contexts

On June 27-28, 2018, the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies) convened an international workshop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on developing norms for the provision of laboratories in low-resource contexts. The U.S. Department of States's Biosecurity Engagement Program requested that the National Academies organize this workshop to engage an international group of organizations that provide funding for construction, upgrades, and maintenance of biological laboratories in countries without the means to build such labs themselves. Twenty-one people from 19 organizations participated. The intent was to advance the conversation about the identification and application of guiding principles and common norms for use by these organizations in their grants, partnerships, and aid. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Contents

• The National Academies of SCIENCES • ENGINEERING • MEDICINE
• PLANNING COMMITTEE ON DEVELOPING NORMS FOR THE PROVISION OF LABORATORIES IN LOW-RESOURCE CONTEXTS
• ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF REVIEWERS
• ACRONYMS
• OVERVIEW
• 1. INTRODUCTION
  • HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
  • DETERMINING AND ADOPTING APPROPRIATE SAFEGUARDS
• 2. THE NEED FOR CONTAINMENT LABORATORIES
  • NEEDS AND PURPOSES FOR BIOLOGICAL LABORATORIES IN LOW-RESOURCE SETTINGS
  • REVISION OF THE WHO LABORATORY BIOSAFETY MANUAL (LBM)
• 3. THE DONOR POPULATION AND ITS GOALS IN PROVIDING BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY CAPACITY FOR LOW-RESOURCE SETTINGS
  • WHO FUNDS LABORATORIES IN LOW-RESOURCE SETTINGS?
  • WHAT NEEDS ARE FUNDERS TRYING TO MEET?
  • WHERE ARE THE LABS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN DONATED AND ARE THEY OPERATING AS ANTICIPATED?
• 4. MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS: AN ALTERNATIVE TO HIGH CONTAINMENT?
• 5. KEY FACTORS FOR BUILDING AND SUSTAINABLY OPERATING HIGH-CONTAINMENT LABS IN LOW-RESOURCE CONTEXTS: AN OVERVIEW
  • SUMMARY OF BREAKOUT SESSIONS
• 6. POTENTIAL NORMS FOR FUNDERS OF BIOLOGICAL LABORATORIES IN LOW-RESOURCE COUNTRIES
  • ESTABLISHING NEEDS
  • CONSTRUCTING NEW LABS VERSUS REPURPOSING EXISTING ONES
  • LABORATORY NETWORKS
  • RISK ASSESSMENT
  • ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES
  • HUMAN VERSUS ANIMAL HEALTH
  • REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
  • INFRASTRUCTURE
  • BIOSAFETY AND BIOSECURITY AND NONPROLIFERATION
  • WORKFORCE AND TRAINING
• REFERENCES
• APPENDIX A. STATEMENT OF TASK
• APPENDIX B. WORKSHOP AGENDA
• APPENDIX C. WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS AND CONTRIBUTORS
• APPENDIX D. WORLD BANK 2017 LIST OF LOW- AND LOWER-MIDDLE INCOME ECONOMIES
• APPENDIX E. LIST OF LABS IDENTIFIED IN LOW-RESOURCE COUNTRIES

Suggested citation:

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Developing Norms for the Provision of Laboratories in Low-Resource Contexts: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: https://doi.org/10.17226/25311.

Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/25311

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