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HSP Joins Fleming Fund Nigeria Team, Adds New Animal Health Advisor
HSP is proud to announce a joint venture in Nigeria with the Fleming Fund, a British aid program that helps combat Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in low- or middle-income countries. The work will focus on the prevalence of AMR in different livestock populations.To help facilitate the project in Nigeria, HSP has hired Dr. Olufemi Olatoye, an experienced animal health epidemiologist, to serve as Animal Health Advisor. HSP is incredibly excited to have him on staff for the duration of this … Continue Reading
December 23, 2020
HSP Partner Holds COVID-19 Safety Training At Local Schools To Protect Students, Teachers
In Pakistan, HSP Partner and Association for Biorisk Management (ABM) staff member, Mehboob Khan, recently held COVID-19 safety training sessions at two schools in the most crowded areas in Quetta.COVID-19 has forced many of Pakistan’s schools, colleges, and universities to close for much of the year. However, the Pakistani government recently decided to reopen schools and put in place standard operating procedures (SOPs) mandating social distancing and mask use. Despite the government’s … Continue Reading
December 16, 2020
HSP Provides COVID-19 Safety Training To Local Pakistani Meat Market Workers
In Pakistan, HSP Partner and Association for Biorisk Management (ABM) staff member, Dr. Bashir Ahmad recently visited a meat market in Quetta City, to help train meat handlers and other market workers about important COVID-19 safety measures.Recently, Pakistan has been hit hard by a second coronavirus wave and despite the government’s health guidelines, there has been an exceptional amount of community spread. To help lower the rate of new cases, Dr. Bashir identified this local market because … Continue Reading
December 14, 2020
HSP Trains Waste Collectors On How To Protect Themselves From COVID-19
HSP Partner and Association for Biorisk Management staff member, Dr. Bashir Ahmad held a COVID-19 safety awareness session with waste collectors in Quetta, the capital of the Balochistan Province in Pakistan. Waste collectors are particularly at risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19 because they tend to be impoverished, come in direct contact with biohazardous waste, and go from place to place looking for garbage to collect. The COVID-19 safety awareness session, which was attended by … Continue Reading
December 11, 2020
HSP Works With Wedding Hall Owners, Caterers To Prevent Unsafe, Large Gatherings
HSP Partner, the Association for Biorisk Management (ABM), recently met with wedding hall owners and their catering staff in the Dera Bugti district of Balochistan, Pakistan, to ensure that they are following COVID-19 procedures and thus, preventing spread of the disease.Though the Pakistani government has banned large gatherings like weddings and other large outdoor events that have more than 300 attendees, some communities have not been following this particular rule, which creates … Continue Reading
December 08, 2020
HSP Leads Biorisk Management Training For Indonesian Armed Forces’ Health Institutions
Recently, HSP completed a three-day virtual, intermediate biorisk management training for 32 professionals from the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI)’s hospitals in Java, Indonesia. The training, which ran from November 19th to November 21st, is important because it helps strengthen both biosafety and biosecurity in Indonesia’s military medical sector, as they deal with more high-consequence pathogens like COVID-19.The HSP-led training team consisted of U.S. and Indonesian experts, that provided … Continue Reading
November 13, 2020
HSP Fellow Develops Biosafety, Biosecurity Guide For High School Students
In Pakistan, HSP Health Security Futures Fellow, Faizan Ahmad, has developed a biosafety and biosecurity guide, as well as the corresponding workshop, for high school students in both English and Urdu, as part of his fellowship project with HSP.Usually, the laboratory experiments performed in high schools are low risk. However, under certain circumstances both teachers and students may still be at risk of contracting various infections. This manual will give students the proper training on … Continue Reading
November 12, 2020
HSP Statement On Ron Klain Being Named Next White House Chief Of Staff
Washington, DC - Health Security Partners (HSP)’s Executive Director, Dr. Jason Rao, released the following statement after having heard the news that Ron Klain will serve as Chief of Staff for the Biden White House.“Given the challenging times we find ourselves in with the COVID-19 pandemic, I could not think of a better Chief of Staff for the Biden White House. Ron Klain understands the importance of global health security and how to execute science-based action plans that will save … Continue Reading
November 10, 2020
HSP Partner Conducts COVID-19 Safety Training With Students & Teachers To Help Reopen Schools In Pakistan
HSP Partner, Dr. Bashir Ahmad visited a school in the Balochistan province of Pakistan in order to give a COVID-19 preventative measures training to 20 school children and their teachers. The Pakistani government recently re-opened schools in the country and issued a series of standard operating procedures to help ensure student and teacher safety during the pandemic. However, there is concern that these procedures are not being followed because there has been an increase in the amount of … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
November 03, 2020
HSP, Philippine Partners Conduct Virtual Chemical Transportation Security Workshop For Industry Stakeholders
In the Philippines, HSP is working with the Chemical Industry Association of the Philippines (SPIK) to conduct a month-long, intensive virtual training on best practices for chemical transportation security (CTS). The program began on October 6th, 2020, bringing together 14 industry and university professionals from the chemical sector in the Mindanao region of the Philippines. The workshop is comprised of a series of 8, 3-hour webinars featuring top international and Philippine experts to … Continue Reading
November 02, 2020
HSP Celebrates Senior Staff Member’s Selection To The International Federation Of Biosafety Associations’ Equity Coordinating Committee
Washington, DC - Health Security Partners (HSP) celebrated the International Federation of Biosafety Associations (IFBA)’s announcement of the members on their Equity-Focused Coordinating Committee (ECC), which includes HSP’s Director of Scientific Programs & Engagement, Dr. Prasad Kuduvalli.The members of the ECC serve for two-year terms, alongside the IFBA Secretariat and governance, to help steer IFBA’s biosafety and biosecurity program work, through their global network, towards more … Continue Reading
September 18, 2020
HSP Delivers COVID-19 Biosecurity Lecture At International BioRisk Management Workshop
This week, HSP's own Dr. Prasad Kuduvalli gave a Biosecurity lecture at an International BioRisk Management workshop hosted by the Institute of Tropical Disease, Airlangga University. The virtual workshop focused on how laboratory biorisk management best practices should be implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to reduce the likelihood of lab-acquired infection or potential misuse of the pathogen. In addition to Dr. Kuduvalli, the event included speakers from many of HSP's partner … Continue Reading
September 17, 2020
HSP’s Arabic AMR Dictionary Presented To Iraq’s Prime Minister
The Arabic version of the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Dictionary, which was translated by HSP's Iraq Fellows, has been presented to Iraq's Prime Minister and President of Parliament. The recently translated tool was presented to them by Iraq's Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Through this gesture, the Minister highlighted the importance of the AMR Dictionary as a means to raise awareness and help educate Iraqi students about AMR, in order to protect human and animal … Continue Reading
September 14, 2020
HSP Congratulates BioRisk Association Of The Philippines On Its Fifth Anniversary
HSP congratulates the BioRisk Association of the Philippines (BRAP) on their recent fifth anniversary. Over the past five years, BRAP has grown from 20 to over 600 members all over the Philippines. They have always been an incredible partner to HSP in our mission to build biosafety and biosecurity capacity in the Philippines. HSP's work with BRAP dates back to April 2016, when HSP and BRAP held a Laboratory Network meeting in Cebu. Most recently, HSP has collaborated with BRAP to put on a … Continue Reading
August 31, 2020
HSP Conducts Study On The Prevalence Of Antimicrobial Resistance In Pakistan’s Agricultural Industry
In Pakistan, HSP is working as part of the United Kingdom (UK) Fleming Fund's efforts to better understand the levels of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria found in food animals. AMR is an evolution in viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens that makes them resistant to drugs they have been exposed to repeatedly. In order to test the levels of AMR in Pakistan's food animals, HSP has teamed up with Dr. Muhammed Usman Zaheer of the Animal Husbandry Commissioner's Office in the Ministry … Continue Reading
August 28, 2020
HSP Partner Conducts COVID-19 Safety Awareness Sessions For Camel Herders In Pakistan
In Pakistan, HSP Partner, the Association for Biorisk Management (ABM) is providing basic COVID-19 safety training to camel herders in the Loralai district of Balochistan. In this region, camel herding is an important part of the economy because it provides food and income to people in remote, desert or mountainous areas. However, in order to feed the camels these herders must be constantly nomadic, creating a means of spread for COVID-19 throughout the region. During the safety trainings, … Continue Reading
August 27, 2020
HSP Partner Helps Distribute Personal Protective Equipment In Kurdistan
In the Kurdistan region of Iraq, HSP Partner Dr. Wafa Mufty, Directorate General of Health, is helping to support the COVID-19 response efforts by distributing personal protective equipment (PPE) to emergency medical personnel or the 1-2-2 in Duhok. Recently, Duhok has been seeing a 150-200 daily rise in new cases, creating a heightened need for PPE so their first responders can safely perform their frontline roles. This PPE distribution effort follows HSP's recent Chemical, Biological, … Continue Reading
August 07, 2020
HSP Conducts Antimicrobial Use Survey Of Pakistan’s Poultry, Dairy Industries
In Pakistan, HSP is working as part of the United Kingdom (UK) Fleming Fund's effort to understand why antimicrobial use is so prevalent in the Pakistani poultry and dairy industries. Studies have shown that increased antimicrobial use (AMU) like antibiotics, leads to increased rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), an evolution in viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens that makes them resistant to drugs they have been exposed to repeatedly. Our team along with the Animal Husbandry … Continue Reading
July 30, 2020
HSP, Indonesian Partners Conduct Virtual Biorisk Management Training For New COVID-19 Testing Labs
In Indonesia, HSP is working with the Indonesian Biorisk Association (IBA) and the National Standardization Agency (BSN) to conduct week-long, intensive virtual training programs for labs that are new to COVID-19 testing. The program is comprised of a series of webinars by experts from both Indonesia and the U.S. on key topics in biosafety, biosecurity and testing quality. These training programs are vital because in Indonesia, more than 250 public and private sector labs are conducting … Continue Reading