Amref Staff Named Global Biosafety Mentor

On March 2, 2019, the International Federation of Biosafety Association (IFBA) Secretariat through a competitive process conferred the position of IFBA Global Mentor to Amref Health Africa’s Sustainable Laboratory Quality Systems (SLQS) Deputy Project Manager Noel Otieno Odhiambo in the IFBA Global Mentorship Program.

IFBA Global Mentorship Program serves as an international community engagement initiative to complement the IFBA Certification Program. The IFBA Global Mentorship Program matches biosafety professionals around the world according to professional discipline and geographic location, encouraging a consistent mentor-mentee relationship for the span of one year.

Through this relationship, both the mentor and mentee gain invaluable professional experience, including consistent support of the mentee as they pursue their first or second IFBA Professional Certification. In this way, the IFBA Global Mentorship Program ensures sustainable and locally relevant professional support for biosafety professionals on an international scale.

The IFBA Global Mentorship Program intends to provide a flexible platform for matched Mentor and Mentee to discuss the professional goals of the Mentee, as well as any and all experiences or ideas related to biosafety and its related disciplines.

Amref Health Africa congratulates Noel for the achievement which will be both beneficial to him and the organisation to strengthen our Programme in Infection Prevention and Control and Health Care Waste Management (HCWM).

The Amref Sustainable Laboratory Quality Systems (SLQS) project is a collaborative agreement between the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Cooperative Agreement (CoAg) and Amref Health Africa in Kenya for the implementation of sustainable, reliable and quality assured laboratory services to increase access to support testing for surveillance, prevention, treatment and care of HIV, TB, and related opportunistic diseases in 65 health facilities in seven project counties: Kitui, Makueni, Machakos, Kilifi, Mombasa, Kwale Taita Taveta.