Health Minister to open Africa’s first Regional Centre of Excellence for Biosafety and Biosecurity

Health Minister, Dr Joseph Mathume Phaahla will tomorrow (Friday) officially open Africa’s first Regional Centre of Excellence for Biosafety and Biosecurity (RCoEBB). Biosafety and biosecurity are still among the Member States' core competencies that

the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified as having the most need for improvement.

The National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), and the United States of America’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency Biological Threat Reduction Program (DTRA-BTRP) have collaborated to establish the Regional Diagnostic Demonstration Centre (RDDC); the first of its kind in the African Continent.

The RDDC is designed to simulate diagnostic laboratory environments and functions. A high level delegation from the Ministry of Health and the United States government including the U.S Ambassador to South Africa, Dr Ruben E. Brigety II will be in

attendance.

Source: Government of South Africa