WHO BIOHUB

WHO BIOHUB

Subject : International Events

Context : The World Health Organization (WHO) and Switzerland have signed an MoU to launch a BioHub facility that will allow rapid sharing of pathogens between laboratories and partners to facilitate better analysis and preparedness against them.

Concept :

WHO BioHub

• The BioHub will enable member states to share biological materials with and via the BioHub under pre-agreed conditions, including biosafety, biosecurity, and other applicable regulations.
• The facility will help in the safe reception, sequencing, storage, and preparation of biological materials for distribution to other laboratories, so as to facilitate global preparedness against these pathogens.
• It would be based in Spiez, Switzerland.
• Pathogens are presently shared bilaterally between countries: A process that can be sluggish and deny the benefits to some.

Its significance

• This will ensure timeliness and predictability in response activities.
• The move is significant in the view of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the need to underline the importance of sharing pathogen information to assess risks and launch countermeasures.
• The move will help contribute to the establishment of an international exchange system for novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging pathogens.