A Mentorship Program to Develop Biorisk Manuals for Laboratories in Pakistan.

Abstract

Introduction: Institutions implementing a biorisk management system need to establish comprehensive guidance to support the implementation of biosafety and biosecurity practices. A biorisk manual describes how a biorisk management system will be implemented in an organization and includes topics such as facility-specific policies and procedures to safely and securely handle, store, and dispose of biological agents and toxins in adherence with international guidance.

Methods: To promote the adoption of biosafety and biosecurity in Pakistan, the Pakistan Biological Safety Association and Health Security Partners developed a biorisk manual writing project in 2019 in partnership with experts from the BioRisk Association of the Philippines 2015, Inc. This project helped 13 researchers and laboratory professionals in Pakistan develop biorisk manuals for their institutions. The project comprised two phases: an in-person group training on how to develop a laboratory biorisk manual, and 10 months of additional remote mentoring assistance for the development and finalization of the biorisk manual tailored to each institution's specific needs. By the end of the project, 12 of the 13 participants had customized biorisk manuals for their institutions in place. In January 2022, a survey was conducted among the workshop participants to learn how successful they were in implementing the developed manual in their institutions.

Results: Participants reported varying degrees of successful implementation. They also suggested that the biosafety and biosecurity associations should engage top management at institutions to strengthen administrative support and provide a sufficient workforce to promote implementation.