Collaboration perspectives in Latin America in the Year of Building International Biosafety Communities

GOLDSTEIN DE FINK S

Joinville, SC

Congreso; VII Congresso Brasileiro de Biossegurança; 2011

Associaçao Nacional de Biossegurança (ANBIO)

This year 2011 has been declared by the International Federation of Biosafety Associations (IFBA) the Year of Building International Biosafety Communities.In Argentina there are some people that have been working on Biosafety for a long time by teaching, developing guidelines and even building biological containment structures. Institutions such as the National Research Council CONICET have also promoted better safety practices through organizational and training activities.The Argentine Association of Microbiology (AAM) is an institution born in 1948 and it is affiliated to the International Union of Microbiology Societies since 1987. At the present time it counts 2200 associates distributed in seven affiliates across the country. Its organization comprises four Divisions and three Subcomissions, being Biosafety one of them.The Biosafety Subcomission is composed of 11 members, with activities related to Biosafety and Biosecurity, from the public (research, human health, agricultural services, defense and universities) as well as from the private sector.The objective of this Subcomission is to work for the promotion and implementation of safe practices in all biological and biomedical fields and for the safe as well as secure operation of biological facilities, developing all these activities in an ethical framework. As part of its growing process and in the context of the IFBA Declaration on Advancing Global Biosafety and Biosecurity, this Subcomission has contacted the two already existing Biosafety Associations in Latin America: ANBIO from Brazil and AmexBio from Mexico. Joining efforts in the region may help us progress faster and attain our goals sooner. We believe that working together at the regional level may be more productive, although coordinated activities involving other Latin-American countries can also add to the improvement of Biosafety and Biosecurity practices in Latin America.