Establishment of a National Inventory of Dangerous Pathogens in the Republic of Uganda

Brizee, Sabrina; Kwehangana, Musa; Mwesigwa, Collins; Bleijs, Diederik A.; Berg, Harold van den; Kampert, Evelien; Makoba, Milton Wetaka; Kagirita, Atek; Makumbi, Issa; Kakooza, Francis; Onapa, Maxwell Otim; Passel, Mark W. J. van

doi:10.1089/hs.2018.0112

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…The maintenance and evaluation phase will continue indefinitely after implementation. In case early consensus on the division of roles and tasks is reached, the setting up, introduction, implementation and data collection process could be accomplished in less than a year, as demonstrated by the implementation of a National Inventory of Dangerous Pathogens in Uganda [ 10 ]. However, the process will be unique in every country and the preparatory and implementation phase could be time consuming.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The government entity responsible for overseeing and tracking progress depends on national factors, such as the regulatory framework. For example, the national focal point in Uganda was initially the Ministry of Health, but was later assigned to the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology [ 10 ]. The focal point should be provided with an appropriate mandate in order to form a team with different professionals, such as a coordinator, an IT expert or biosafety/biosecurity specialist to effectively implement, update, and maintain the national inventory.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This systematic approach towards establishing a National Inventory of Dangerous Pathogens was applied in East-African countries, including Uganda [ 10 ], which established a national inventory, and has been presented pending implementation in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania. In assisting different countries with the implementation of the inventory, several lessons were learned.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A ‘national inventory of dangerous pathogens’ (NIDP) is one feasible and practical implementation option, and an essential step, to build a national oversight and regulatory system. Within the context of biosecurity, a national inventory is an electronic database intended to store information collected from all institutes storing and maintaining dangerous pathogens in a coordinated secured location [ 10 ]. In this way, the national authorities have access to information on what dangerous pathogens are present in their country and where they are stored.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As there is little guidance on systematically establishing a centralized data collection system, this article aims at closing this knowledge gap and provides tools and software for implementing a national database. It supports national authorities and policymakers by providing a stepwise approach and a set of best practises, which are based on previous implementation efforts in different East-African countries, including Uganda [ 10 ]. Here, we describe the different phases of implementation and provide guidance on challenges that could be encountered.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Systematic approach towards establishing a National Inventory of Dangerous Pathogens

Vennis

Bleijs

Brizee

et al. 2021

Global Health Action

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International regulations stipulate that countries need to organize their biosafety and biosecurity systems to minimize the risk of accidental (biosafety) or malicious intentional (biosecurity) release of dangerous pathogens. International Health Regulations (IHR) benchmarks from the WHO state that even for a level of limited capacity countries need to 'Identify and document human and animal health facilities that store/maintain dangerous pathogens and toxins in the relevant sectors and health professionals responsible for them'. This study provides a stepwise, systematic approach and best practices for countries to initiate a national inventory of dangerous pathogens. With a national inventory of dangerous pathogens a country can identify and document information in a dedicated electronic database on institutes that store or maintain dangerous pathogens. The systematic approach for the implementation of a national inventory of dangerous pathogens consists of four stages; identification, preparation, implementation, and maintenance and evaluation. In the identification phase, commitment of the relevant national ministries is to be established, and a responsible government entity needs to be identified. In the preparatory phase, a list of pathogens to be incorporated in the inventory, as well as a list of institutes to include, is to be agreed upon. In the implementation phase, the institutes are contacted, and the collected data is stored safely and securely in a electronical database. Finally, in the maintenance and evaluation phase meaningful insights are derived and reported to the relevant government authorities. Also, preparations for updates and modifications are undertaken, such as modifications of pathogen lists or institute lists. The approach and database, which is available from the authors, have been tested for the implementation of a national inventory of dangerous pathogens in multiple East-African countries. A national inventory of dangerous pathogens helps countries in strengthening national biosafety and biosecurity as well as in their compliance to IHR.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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