On 29 October 2024, a two-hour webinar was held on the Global guidance framework for the responsible use of the life sciences: mitigating biorisks and governing dual-use research (the framework), released in 2022, this is a comprehensive global guidance document aims to inform the development of national frameworks and approaches for mitigating biorisks and governing dual-use research, while harnessing the power of life sciences for global health. The webinar was held to facilitate and support the document’s operationalization in the WHO African Region.
The webinar was conducted in English, with simultaneous interpretation in French made available to maximize the participation from countries with different speaking languages and exchanges.
This webinar provided a platform for interested parties in the WHO African Region to:
- gain knowledge and increase their awareness about the framework and how it fits into existing strategies and initiatives in the Region;
- hear from country experiences and lessons learned through the piloting of the framework, taking into consideration country’s context, priorities and needs;
- earn about the Regional Office’s activities in supporting and promoting the operationalization of the framework; and
- discuss and exchange experiences in the areas of responsible use of life sciences and governance of dual-use research to build a network and engage in intra-regional learning opportunities.
A total of 72 participants working in the life sciences joined the webinar from Member States across diverse disciplines and sectors, WHO regional and country offices and regional partners and entities.
The Assistant Regional Director of the WHO Regional Office for Africa, Dr Lindiwe Makubalo, provided the welcoming remarks, conveying the high level of commitment at the highest level of the Regional Office and demonstrating the importance of the topic in the Region. Dr Makubalo offered insights into the opportunities on the African continent for governing dual-use research and mitigating biorisks, while emphasizing the reasoning behind the need to ensure life science research is conducted in a safe manner.
Dr Constance Assohou - Luty, Team Lead for Research at the WHO Regional Office for Africa, facilitated the webinar sessions during which series of presentations were delivered. First, the Emerging Technologies, Research Prioritization and Support unit of WHO headquarters’ Science Division, represented by Dr Anna Laura Ross, Dr Emmanuelle Tuerlings and Dr Soatiana Rajatonirina, spoke on the key elements and considerations of the framework, the different activities conducted to support its operationalization and the development of accompanying tools to facilitate the uptake of the framework. This included the online implementation and monitoring tool and the online training course on responsible use of the life sciences and dual-use research.
Next, Dr Turyatunga Emmanuel, Office of the Prime Minister; Dr Andrew Bakainaga, Country Advisor, WHO Country Office Uganda; and Dr Andrew Nasawotebb, Laboratory Focal Person at the Ministry of Health Uganda, presented Uganda’s experiences from piloting the framework.
This was followed by a presentation from Dr Samuel Ujewe, a Senior Ethics Advisor from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) on key insights and perspectives in contextualizing the framework within African socio-cultural realities, and lastly, Dr Jaures Noumedem, the Biosafety and Biosecurity Technical Officer at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), on Africa CDC’s experiences and observations of responsible use of the life sciences in the continent.
These series of presentations were followed by a plenary session chaired by the Assistant Regional Director of the WHO African Region during which participants were encouraged to share their experiences, exchange ideas and pose questions. Overall, the webinar generated key interest from the participants, who emphasized the importance of investment in this area of work, and especially In dual-use governance in the African Region through the congregation of stakeholders.
Others remarked on the strong political will needed to ensure the governance of the life sciences at country level, the importance of harmonizing efforts between WHO and Africa CDC and the need for effective monitoring tools. Final thoughts from the group included a call for expanded implementation of the framework in countries within the African Region and the need to make WHO focal points available to facilitate and communicate needs for support.
At the conclusion of the discussion, several next steps were agreed upon to support the interested countries and stakeholders in their initiation of the framework’s implementation. First, WHO focal point contact information will be shared. Then, two documents will be shared with the network of partners in order to share insights and provide important context for future work: the final report from the piloting of the framework in Uganda and the Global guidance framework for the responsible use of the life sciences: mitigating biorisks and governing dual-use research in the WHO African Region. Participants were also encouraged to subscribe to the responsible sciences and emerging technologies newsletter to receive regular updates on these areas directly in their inbox if they are interested.