Regional labs prepare to detect new diseases

Dr Polson-Edwards was speaking at the opening of a two-day technical and policy forum for laboratory directors from 19 English and Dutch speaking public health laboratories across the region.

The aim of the forum was to share activities, achievements and strategic priorities, inform of technical laboratory advances, and exchange lessons-learned from the most-affected countries. The meeting discussed and sought to establish consensus on regional and country- specific needs and action plans for laboratory preparedness and technical capacity development training, with specific focus on the Zika Virus and other outbreak prone diseases.

Dr Polson-Edwards highlighted CARPHA’s role in assisting member states to strengthen capacity in the testing of arboviral diseases, especially in response to the recent Zika outbreak. She underscored the function of laboratories in the long-term development of the Roadmap for Regional Health Security, not only for diagnosis of new and emerging pathogens, but also in areas of biosafety and biosecurity.