Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025475 (Poster 023) | Published: 30 Jul 2025
Kayode Akanbi1, Abdoulaye Ouedraogo2, Farouk Jaber3, Paul-Fourier Kouamé4, Chinelo Ebruke4,5, Babacar Fall1, Mamadou Diarrassouba1, Olivier Manigart4,5,6 &
1Regional Center for Surveillance and Diseases Control, Abuja, Nigeria, 2Projet Napam Beogo, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 3Laboratoire d’Analyse des Composés Organiques, Université Libanaise, Beyrouth, Liban, 4Organisation Ouest-Africaine de la Santé, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, 5GFA Consulting Group, Hamburg, Germany, 6Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques de Gembloux, Belgium
&Corresponding author: Olivier Manigart, Organisation Ouest-Africaine de la Santé, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, Email: olivier.manigart@gfa-group.de
Received: 11 May 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 30 Jul 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Toxicology, environment, Food, Pesticides, Eternal pollutants
©Kayode Akanbi et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Kayode Akanbi et al. The importance of strengthening environmental and toxicological analyses: Selection of two regional laboratories and experience of the Napam Beogo Program. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(Conf Proc 5):00167. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO5-00167
To address these gaps, the West African Health Organization (WAHO) aims to integrate two toxicological laboratories into its Regional Reference Laboratory Network (RRLR). A standardized questionnaire was developed to assess candidate laboratories on infrastructure, technical expertise, analytical capacity, participation in national and international networks, and implementation of quality management systems. It was distributed to the 15 national institutes of public health (INSPs) across ECOWAS, who were invited to nominate relevant laboratories. In parallel, the gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method was evaluated as a key technique for identifying and quantifying pesticide residues in food.
Eight out of 15 Member States (53.3%) responded, nominating a total of 10 laboratories. Based on scoring criteria, the top performing laboratories were selected for further assessments to narrow down the choice to two laboratories. These laboratories are ISO-accredited and demonstrate strong technical and institutional capacity. In addition, the Napam Beogo project sent samples to Europe for GC/MS analysis to detect the presence of 660 pesticide molecules, at a cost of €15,000.
The laboratories will be positioned to serve as regional models, promoting best practices in environmental and toxicological testing. Their inclusion in the RRLR will strengthen analytical capacity, support public health surveillance, and strengthen food safety systems. By complementing existing human and animal health laboratories, this initiative advances the One Health approach, integrating environmental monitoring into the broader disease prevention and control agenda.
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