November 05, 2020

HSP, Pakistan Biological Safety Association Host Biorisk Management Webinar Series For COVID-19 Testing Labs

Last weekend, HSP and the Pakistan Biological Safety Association (PBSA) completed a marathon 14-part webinar series to provide biorisk management training to COVID-19 testing laboratories at the forefront of the pandemic response in Pakistan. These trainings are particularly important because the pandemic has created such a large testing demand, that labs which didn’t have experience in handling these types of pathogens are now handling virus-containing specimens regularly.

At the conclusion of the webinar series, 69 laboratorians have completed the course, which focused on safe handling of specimens to protect both the laboratory staff and outside communities, as well as how to ensure testing quality. These webinars were taught by both Pakistani and international trainers. In addition to the webinars, course participants had to complete a quiz after each lecture and they received additional support via a closed Facebook group.

These trainings were incredibly well-received; when asked about the training, participants said the following:

“This series was really informative and well suited for the current situation, where we are working with a virus that is very new to us.”

“The knowledge from different experts was very helpful. Truly relevant and very knowledgeable. One of the best training series I have ever had."

There was so much demand for the course that HSP and PBSA have started another series with over 200 participants that runs from October to December.