BioHub Facility : WHO and Switzerland MoU

BioHub Facility : WHO and Switzerland
Source : Down To Earth
GS III : Science and Technology

The World Health Organization (WHO) and Switzerland signed a Memorandum of Undersatnding (MoU) to launch a BioHub facility.

BioHub Facility : WHO and Switzerland MoU allow rapid sharing of pathogens between laboratories and partners.
Facilitate a better analysis and preparedness against them.

The move is significant in the view of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The BioHub Facility : WHO and Switzerland MoU underline the importance of sharing pathogen information to assess risks and launch counter measures.
How this Helps ?
- Safe reception, sequencing, storage and preparation of biological materials for distribution to other laboratories, so as to facilitate global preparedness against these pathogens.
Switzerland supports the WHO BioHub initiative in its initial phase by providing the necessary infrastructure of a Swiss biosafety laboratory in Spiez.
Contribute to the establishment of an international exchange system for novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging pathogens.

Most pathogen sharing is done bilaterally between countries and on an ad hoc basis.
This process can be slow and leave some countries without access to the benefits and tools.
The BioHub will enable Member States to share biological materials via the BioHub under pre-agreed conditions.
The condition include
- Biosafety
- Biosecurity
- Other applicable regulations.
This will ensure timeliness and predictability in response activities.

Following results from the pilot project he BioHub will expand from SARS-COV-2 and its variants.
Also to other pathogens, and connect partners with other repositories and laboratory networks in 2022.

A pathogen is an organism that causes disease upon entering the body.
All a pathogen needs host to survive.
Photo by CDC on Unsplash
They can be spread through skin contact, bodily fluids, airborne particles, contact with feces, and touching a surface touched by an infected person.

There are four types of Pathogens. They are

Bacteria

Microorganisms made of a single cell.
The bacteria that causes disease is called pathogenic bacteria.
Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections.
- Some strains of bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics, making them difficult to treat.
- Major reason is over use of Antibiotics.
The bacterial infection starts when body immunity system compromises.

Fungi

They cause infection when they overgrow.
Fungi cells contain a nucleus and other components protected by a membrane and a thick cell wall.
- This feature makes them hard to kill.
Fungi can be found just about everywhere in the environment, including indoors, outdoors, and on human skin.

Parasites

Three main types of parasites can cause disease in humans
- Ectoparasites, which are multi-celled organisms that live on or feed off your skin.
- Protozoa, which are single-celled organisms have the ability to multiply.
- helminths, which are larger, multi-celled organisms that can live inside or outside human body.

Viruses

Viruses are made up of genetic code like DNA or RNA having a protected by a coating of protein.
Once infected they use the components of the host cell to producing more viruses.
This usually damages or destroys the infected cells.
Antiviral medications can sometimes be used depending on the virus as antibiotics are ineffective.

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