Regional laboratories preparing to detect new and emerging diseases

Jul 23, 2017 News

Regional laboratories are urged to prepare to detect new and emerging diseases

At a recent conference hosted by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), regional health workers were told that their laboratories need to be prepared to detect new and emerging diseases.
This advice came from the Acting Director for Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control at CARPHA, Dr. Karen Polson-Edwards. In a statement issued by the regional organisation, Polson-Edwards said that public health laboratories play a critical role in the fight against communicable diseases, particularly vector-borne diseases.
She said that these laboratories need to better prepare the Region to detect and respond to new and emerging threats. The doctor made these remarks at the two-day technical and policy forum for laboratory directors from 19 English and Dutch speaking public health laboratories across the region.
Attending the meeting were delegates from the Centres for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), Council of Minister of Health of Central America and the Dominican Republic (COMISCA) and the Caribbean Med Labs Foundation (CMLF).
According to CARPHA, 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.”
The statement said that 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.
It was noted that the expert 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 in the areas of bio safety and bio security.
Further, according to CARPHA, the meeting sought to promote and ensure long-term sustainability and country ownership of on-going laboratory and response activities jointly implemented by multiple technical assistance teams and national partners.
The growth of a number of networks also came under review. These were the Caribbean Public Health Laboratory Network (CariPHLN) and the Caribbean Vector-Borne Diseases Network (CariVecNet). The strengths, weaknesses and gaps in regional laboratory systems were specifically addressed.
Earlier in the year, it was noted that Zika cases in the region were on the decline. However, it was noted by Executive Director of CARPHA, Dr C. James Hospedales, that despite the decline, there is still need for continued vigilance and action on mosquito borne diseases which pose a health security threat, a tourism threat and an economic threat.
Zika is the newest mosquito borne disease to have emerged in the Caribbean following Chikungunya which affected a number of states.

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