Abstract :

Enhancing laboratory biosafety capacity across Egyptian governorates is a core focus of the Biorisk Management Unit (BRM) at the Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL), Egypt. To support this goal, a competition was launched for public health laboratories across all 27 governorates, inviting them to collaboratively propose innovative biosafety activities through a twinning approach.

Methods: Participants were invited to propose innovative solutions to mitigate biorisks in their laboratories, tailored to the context of their respective governorates, and to include sustainability plans for strengthening biosafety capacity. Twin governorates were selected through open dialogue among participating governorates to identify suitable partners. Submissions included both a written proposal and an oral presentation describing the twinning arrangement. BRM-CPHL convened a panel of biosafety experts from multiple sectors under the One Health framework, including academia, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the military sector, to serve as jurors and select the five winning proposals.

Results:Twenty-six of the 27 governorates participated in the competition, generating 10 novel biosafety-focused proposals through twinning partnerships. Based on predefined selection criteria, the proposals were ranked, and the winning initiatives included hazardous medical waste management, a unified digital repository for biosafety documents, and a QR code-based system for equipment identification and safety data.

Conclusion: This paper summarizes the submitted proposals and highlights their potential for integration into national biosafety strategies and replication internationally. The findings further demonstrate strengthened inter-governorate collaboration, increased awareness of biosafety practices, and the development of practical, scalable tools.