Lilongwe, Malawi – 9-10 June 2025; The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), in collaboration with the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), convened a two-day Southern Africa regional consultative meeting in Lilongwe, Malawi. The Biosafety and Biosecurity program is funded through the Government of Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) through the G7-led Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, other partners: Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World bank, aimed to identify regional priorities for inclusion in the 2025–2030 Biosafety and Biosecurity (BSBS) Strategic Plan.
The consultative forum follows the recent review of Africa CDC’s current 2021–2025 BSBS strategy and was held under the Signature Initiative to Mitigate Biological Threats in Africa. Discussions centered on evaluating progress, identifying challenges, and outlining future actions to enhance biosafety and biosecurity systems across the region.
Key observations from the strategy review included:
- The critical role of Africa CDC in providing strategic coordination, fostering partnerships, and co-developing solutions with Member States.
- Increased awareness of BSBS across the continent, although further advocacy is needed to engage leadership and decision-makers.
- Continued reliance on external partners for funding BSBS capacity strengthening remains a challenge to program sustainability.
- National Coordination and Implementation structures are best suited for contextualizing regional approaches and are more sustainable
Speaking during the meeting, Dr. Talkmore Maruta, Director of Programs, ASLM highlighted the persistent gaps in the region’s biosafety and biosecurity infrastructure. “No country in Southern Africa currently has comprehensive BSBS legislation. Our institutions of higher learning lack specialized training in BSBS, and only one facility —the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) — has achieved certification under the Regulatory and Certification Framework for High Containment African Laboratories (HCATs),” he said. Dr. Maruta also noted the limited number of functional national BSBS Technical Working Groups (TWGs) and the continued dependence on partner support for funding, noting the need to domesticate these initiatives.
Africa CDC’s Senior Biosafety and Biosecurity Technical Officer, Mr. Zibusiso Masuku, commended the Southern Regional TWG for its progress since inception. “I challenge you to strengthen South-South collaboration as a strategy to build Member States’ capacities by leveraging existing regional resources. The essence of biosafety and biosecurity lies in strong multisectoral collaboration, which has been significantly supported by Global Affairs Canada and the UK government,” he said.
The meeting was officially opened by Dr. Lilian Chiwonda, Chief of Health Technical Services at Malawi’s Ministry of Health. She acknowledged the long-standing collaboration with Africa CDC, ASLM, and partners, emphasizing Malawi’s commitment to developing and implementing a robust five-year BSBS Strategic Plan. “I will be your champion,” she affirmed. “I pledge to advocate among my peers and government leadership for deliberate efforts to strengthen regional capabilities and address our shared biosafety and biosecurity challenges.”
This Southern Africa regional consultation follows a similar meeting for the Northern region held the previous week. Additional consultative meetings are planned for the Eastern, Western, and Central African regions.