13 Jul 2023

 A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the Ministry of Health (MoH) and US biotechnology leader Ginkgo Bioworks will enable the health system to detect and respond to any future disease outbreaks and emergencies. 

The two parties signed the MoA during the ongoing US-Africa Summit here. Ginkgo Bioworks offers biosecurity and public health services for identification and mitigation against the spread of pathogens of concern such as SARS-CoV-2 through testing and genomic sequencing. 

MoH permanent secretary Ms Grace Muzila signed on behalf of the government of Botswana while Mr Chris Perez represented Ginkgo Bioworks. Explaining the genesis of the relationship, health minister Dr Edwin Dikoloti said Botswana’s first met Ginkgo at last year’s US-Africa summit in Marrakesh, Morocco.

“Our interest was in exploring possible collaboration in capacity-building in the area of biosecurity and bio-surveillance as biological threats continue to emerge,” he said. 

Thereafter, the Ginkgo team visited Botswana on a one-week scoping mission during which they undertook a surveillance of new public health threats by conducting some wastewater tests. 

While in Botswana, the team visited Kazungula Bridge, the National Health Laboratory, Botswana Vaccine Institute and the Botswana Meat Commission to appreciate the setup at those facilities. 

The recommendations that it made highlighted gaps in bio-surveillance and bio-security in the country. 

Minister Dikoloti said currently, the Ministry of Health relied on the Botswana Harvard Institute Laboratory for testing, adding the laboratory was sometimes overwhelmed to facilitate adequately. 

In that regard, he underscored the need for capacity building in the area of biosecurity. 

He said a technical team from his Ministry had also in the past months visited the Ginkgo Bioworks Laboratory in Boston to appreciate their operations. 

This also provided an opportunity for the discussions around the MoA, he said. ends