UNAM inaugurates Bio-Safety Level 3 Lab
The official inauguration of the Bio-Safety Level 3 (BSL3) Laboratory took place at the University of Namibia’s School of Medicine on Tuesday, which was officiated by the German ambassador to Namibia, Herbert Beck.
The new biocontainment BSL-3 laboratory is designed to conduct research and sustained diagnostic testing in the areas of Covid-19, tuberculosis, HIV and other infectious pathogens such as rabies, and avian influenza among others. Such a facility could also support One Health surveillance activities and field interventions in Namibia.
The facility will increase responsiveness and capacities in the country’s health sector as a whole, with close cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Social Services, the Namibia Institute of Pathology and other stakeholders.
In an effort to strengthen the resilience of the Namibian health system, the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) provided funding for this joint project.
Through the German Development Bank KfW, Germany funded the infrastructure for the laboratory with N$6 million. In addition, through the Federal States Programme and implemented by GIZ, laboratory equipment and materials have been procured for the amount of N$3.5 million. Additional human capacity development is also supported.
The Namibian partner through UNAM contributed N$1 million.
‘Right trajectory’
Dr Emmanuel Nepolo, Head of UNAM’s Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, emphasised that “the new BSL-3 facility is a sign that Namibia is on the right trajectory in establishing local laboratory infrastructure and capacities that will make it less dependent on other countries in terms of pandemic prevention, preparedness and response”.
The laboratory, designed in compliance with international standards and manufactured in South Africa, comprises a containerized structure, including medical equipment and a dedicated plant room for filter-controlled airflow. This state-of-the-art laboratory incorporates a series of facilities such as Reagent Preparation, Specimen Receiving, Ante, Culture and Detection Rooms.
The funding from the German government will enable UNAM to deepen its longstanding academic ambitions, such as enhancing its research agenda and training with internationally renowned universities. Thus, the project aims at capacitating the School of Medicine with the necessary equipment to increase research outputs and diagnosis of public health relevance.