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HSP Fellow Dr. Nawfal Al-Dujaili Conducts Virtual Workshop On One Health, Global Threats, COVID-19
This week, HSP Fellow Dr. Nawfal Al-Dujaili from the University of Kufa of Iraq, conducted a virtual workshop focused on One Health and Global Threats with 1,114 participants. The participants included university faculty, postgraduate students, as well as medical and health care professionals. The Q&A session explored the animal origin of COVID-19, its transmission to humans, and its spread across the globe. Keep up the great work Dr. … Continue Reading
April 15, 2020
HSP Partners With NIH, Islamabad, Trees Technologies To Bring Laboratory Information Management System To KPK Public Health Lab
In Pakistan, HSP partnered with the National Institute of Health, Islamabad (NIH) and Trees Technologies to deliver and commission a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Public Health Lab at Khyber Medical College. Following installation, Trees Technologies also provided training to the staff so that they fully understood the capacity and how to use the system. They are now using this infrastructure to quickly report their COVID-19 testing results to … Continue Reading
April 15, 2020
HSP Fellow Dr. Osama Shareef Continues To Help Iraq Conduct Testing For COVID-19
In Iraq, HSP Fellow Dr. Osama Shareef and his team continue to help their country's Ministry of Health to conduct diagnostic PCR testing for suspected COVID-19 cases. Viral Transport Media (VTM), used to maintain specimen quality during transport for testing, is currently unavailable in Iraq through local vendors. Dr. Osama and his team prepared their own VTM using available WHO protocols and conducted tests for quality assurance before sharing it with hospitals and specimen collection … Continue Reading
April 14, 2020
HSP Director Statement On Trump’s Announcement Of World Health Organization Funding Freeze
Washington, DC - Today, Health Security Partners (HSP) Executive Director, Dr. Jason Rao released the following statement on President Trump's announcement that the US will freeze funding towards the World Health Organization (WHO). Rao said, "As the Coronavirus has demonstrated in the past few months, diseases know no borders. Public health and infectious disease are global issues and the United States' participation in and support of the WHO is critical to the world's success in overcoming … Continue Reading
April 14, 2020
HSP Partner Dr. Javed Muhammed Helps Khyber Pakhtunkwa Government Establish COVID-19 Testing Sites
In Pakistan, our partner Dr. Javed Muhammad, Assistant Professor at University of Swabi, and Treasurer of the Pakistan Biological Safety Association (PBSA) is helping the Khyber Pakhtunkwa (KPK) government establish COVID-19 testing sites. One of the testing sites is being setup at Mufti Mehmood Memorial Hospital in Dera Ismail Khan. At this site, Dr. Muhammad, a microbiologist and expert in biosecurity and biosafety, has helped establish a complete PCR testing facility with separate reagents, … Continue Reading
April 13, 2020
HSP Fellow Dr. Osama Shareef Leads Two Teams To Conduct Real-Time COVID-19 PCR Testing In Iraq
In the Kurdish region of Iraq, HSP Fellow Dr. Osama Shareef is leading teams at the ASA Hospital and Sarchner Center, both in Sulaymaniyah City, to conduct COVID-19 PCR testing. Between the two sites, they are running up to 545 tests daily, which is critical to Iraq's efforts to identify and contain the spread of the … Continue Reading
April 10, 2020
HSP Director Releases Statement Calling For Global Action To End The Coronavirus Crisis After Deaths Surpass 100,000
Washington, DC - Today, Health Security Partners (HSP) Executive Director, Dr. Jason Rao released the following statement calling for coordinated action after COVID-19 or the novel Coronavirus claimed over 100,000 lives globally. Rao said, "On behalf of not only Myself, but of all of the HSP global network of partners, our deepest condolences go to the families and communities that have lost loved-ones because of this horrible pandemic. I cannot imagine the pain they are going through, … Continue Reading
April 07, 2020
HSP Fellow Dr. Nawfal Al-Dujaili Holds Online Global Health Training With COVID-19 Focus In Iraq
This weekend, HSP Health Security Fellow Dr. Nawfal Al-Dujaili from the University of Kufa in Iraq held an online training session on global health security with a focus on COVID-19. There were 762 participants that attended the virtual event, comprised of professors and students from universities, as well as doctors and clinical staff from health centers across Iraq. After the lecture, Dr. Nawfal answered questions about what can be done to prevent COVID-19, when a vaccine would potentially … Continue Reading
March 27, 2020
HSP Fellow Supporting COVID-19 Response In Indonesia On Multiple Fronts
HSP Fellow Dr. Aroem Naroeni, Researcher and Biosafety Officer at the Virology and Cancer Pathobiology Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia, is helping to lead Indonesia's COVID-19 response on several fronts: Dr. Aroem's laboratory is one of the reference laboratories for diagnostic testing for COVID 19. In addition to conducting tests, she has instituted COVID-19 specific biorisk management procedures and practices and is also monitoring their health to prevent lab … Continue Reading
March 27, 2020
Dr. Gina Itchon Supports COVID-19 Infection Care In The Philippines
HSP collaborator Dr. Gina Itchon, Medical Officer IV at Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) and Associate Professor and Director of the Sustainable Sanitation Center, Xavier University, is supporting COVID-19 infection care at NMMC in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. In March, NMCC was designated as the hospital in the Northern Mindanao Region for quarantine and testing of persons who may be infected with the COVID-19 virus. In response to the emergency, staff updated Emergency Room SOPs. … Continue Reading
March 26, 2020
HSP Fellow, UVAS, Lahore, Pakistan Combat COVID-19
The University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), Lahore, Pakistan has been proactive in combating COVID-19 in Pakistan. HSP Fellow Muhammad Ilyas Riaz and collaborator Dr. Sohail Raza assisted the Department of Microbiology, UVAS with putting on a seminar and walk to raise awareness of COVID-19 before any cases were diagnosed in Pakistan. The event was hosted in collaboration with the Institute of Public Health Lahore (IPH) on February 4, 2020; leadership from University of Education … Continue Reading
March 25, 2020
HSP Health Security Futures Fellows Conduct Infectious Disease And Waste Management Workshop In Pakistan
HSP Health Security Futures Fellows in Pakistan, Perbhat Ali and Anam Liaquat Ali, conducted a one-day workshop, "Infectious Diseases and Waste Management Plan: An Update," in collaboration with Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi on March 8, 2020. This workshop aimed to help the participants implement best practices for biological waste management in their home facilities. Healthcare professionals from the Dow University of Health Sciences and Civil Hospital Karachi attended the … Continue Reading
March 12, 2020
HSP Partners Supporting The COVID-19 Pandemic Response
HSP partners around the world are working tirelessly to strengthen capacity to prevent, detect and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the onset of the outbreak, our partners have been champions of health security, working to raise awareness, train health and laboratory professionals to enhance preparedness, and support the response to COVID-19 infections in their countries. We are inspired by the extraordinary initiative and commitment of our network of global partners and congratulate … Continue Reading
February 27, 2020
Supporting Policy Development For Sustainable Livestock Management In Pakistan
HSP has worked in collaboration with our local partner in Pakistan, the Association for Biorisk Management (ABM), to support the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provincial government to develop and implement a livestock policy. The policy was approved in May 2018 and the finalization of an implementation plan is now underway. On Friday, February 07, the KP Livestock Department and ABM held a one-day consultative meeting to review the strategic and business plan for the policy. A total of 25 … Continue Reading
February 27, 2020
Important Biosafety Publications From HSP Partner In Pakistan
Longtime partner and colleague of HSP, Dr. Shamsul Arfin Qasmi recently co-authored two scholarly articles documenting biosafety and waste management practices and gaps in laboratories in Pakistan. These papers were a product of the HSP-supported project "Survey of Laboratory Acquired Infections and Waste Management in Biomedical and Research Laboratories of Pakistan." HSP is proud to support the work of Dr. Qasmi, who has been a champion in the fields of biosafety, biosecurity and waste … Continue Reading
February 24, 2020
Assessing Sample Transportation Methods In Mindanao, Philippines
Do you ever wonder how a sample given at your doctor's office ends up at the lab? In the United States, we have strict procedures regulated by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the Department of Transportation. These procedures determine how a potentially infectious sample is packaged to how it is transported (i.e. air, overland). Without these precautions the courier and/or the receiver could be exposed and potentially infected. HSP and the Biorisk Association of the … Continue Reading
February 24, 2020
HSP Joins Fleming Fund Consortium To Address Antimicrobial Resistance In Pakistan
HSP along with Aga Khan University (AKU), Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI), and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), are part of a consortium supporting the Fleming Fund in Pakistan. The Fleming Fund is a £265 million UK aid investment to tackle antimicrobial resistance in low- and middle-income countries around the world. The program is managed by the UK Department of Health and Social Care, in partnership with Mott MacDonald, the Fleming Fund Grants Management Agent. Led … Continue Reading
February 20, 2020
Health Security Futures Fellowship Launches In Yemen
HSP's Health Security Futures Fellowship for Yemen kicked-off in January 2020 with two-day intensive workshops in the cities of Ibb and Sana'a, Yemen. The twelve new Fellows, six each in Ibb and in Sana'a, are undergraduate and graduate students pursuing careers in science in Yemen. Led by two local expert mentors in each city, the events explored topics in health security, such as bioterrorism, international governance frameworks, dual-use concepts, infectious disease, and culture of … Continue Reading
February 11, 2020
HSP Iraq Health Security Fellows Conduct Coronavirus Awareness Training For The University Sector
HSP Iraq Health Security Stewards Fellow, Arwa Mujahid Al-Shuwaikh conducted a one-day continuing education workshop, "Novel Coronavirus nCoV-2019: Prevention and Control," at Al-Nahrain University College of Medicine on February 5, 2020. The workshop provided faculty members, medical doctors, and employees from the university with valuable information about the outbreak, including control measures put into place by the Government of Iraq and internationally recommended measures for laboratory … Continue Reading
August 19, 2019
HSP Leads Military Medical Training In Indonesia
HSP Executive Director, Jason Rao and HSP team members traveled to Yogyakarta, Indonesia July 22-26 to lead a workshop, Fostering Health Security for the Indonesian Armed Forces. This workshop focused on training leaders of TNI's Yogyakarta branch, and covered topics such as laboratory safety and security. This video clip captures some of the footage from this first week of training. The team will be returning to Surabaya for additional trainings this … Continue Reading