Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025472 (Poster 091) | Published: 04 Aug 2025
Olivier Manigart1,2,&, Chinelo Ebruke1,2, Nancy Adjami1, Djibril Sangare3, Abiodun Denloye4, Maureen Ellis5, Issiaka Sombie1, Abdourahmane Sow6,7
1West African Health Organisation, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, 2GFA Consulting Group, GmbH, Hamburg, Germany, 3Malian Association for Biosafety and Biosecurity, Bamako, Mali, 4Nigerian Biological Safety Association, Lagos, Nigeria, 5International Federation of Biosafety Associations, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 6Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Dakar, Sénégal, 7Département de Médecine Préventive et de Santé Publique, Faculté de Médecine, Pharmacie, Odontologie, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Sénégal
&Corresponding author: Olivier Manigart, West African Health Organisation, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. Email:Olivier.Manigart@gfa-group.de
Received: 01 May 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 04 Aug 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
This is part of the Proceedings of the ECOWAS 2nd Lassa fever International Conference in Abidjan, September 8 – 11, 2025
Keywords: Biosafety, Biosecurity, Biological Waste Management, IFBA certified professionals
©Olivier Manigart 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: Olivier Manigart et al Establishment and implementation of the West African biorisk management network: A progress report of the West African Health Organisation. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc5):00235. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO5-00235
In response to persistent gaps in Biorisk Management (BRM) implementation in West Africa, a unified effort among biosafety and biosecurity (B&B) stakeholders led to the creation of the WABNet. Coordinated by WAHO, WABNet brings together representatives from all 15 ECOWAS Member States, alongside partners such as GFA, Global Affairs Canada, IFBA, Africa CDC, WHO AFRO, ASLM, Fondation Mérieux, and others. Its mission is to build and sustain regional capacities for the safe and secure handling of high-consequence pathogens.
WABNet’s establishment was guided by a series of stakeholder consultations, resulting in the formation of a Technical Working Group and the development of a five-year strategic plan. Regional workshops, involving representatives from all ECOWAS countries and partner institutions, were held to define strategic objectives and strengthen BRM. Training sessions and IFBA certification workshops in BRM and Biological Waste Management (BWM) were conducted in partnership with Africa CDC, aiming to develop a skilled and certified B&B workforce across the region.
Formally launched in 2021 during an online workshop, WABNet’s five-year strategic plan and governance manual were technically validated in 2023. Since then, 70 professionals from both human and veterinary sectors across 15 countries have been trained and certified in BRM — including in eight countries that previously had no trained personnel. In BWM, the number of IFBA-certified professionals has increased from 2 to 36 across 11 countries. Furthermore, in addition to the five existing biosafety associations in the region, two new associations have recently been established.
The growing cadre of certified professionals is now positioned to cascade training and reinforce biosafety practices at national and subnational levels, supporting laboratories in aligning with international standards. The establishment and expansion of national B&B associations will also enhance advocacy, intersectoral collaboration, and policy engagement with relevant ministries across the ECOWAS region.
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