An intercountry meeting of directors of public health laboratories in the Region took place in Tunis, Tunisia, from 24 to 27 February 2015.

Participants included representatives from 17 Member States, temporary advisers, partner organizations, and WHO secretariat. The objectives of the meeting were to:

• review the status of the public health laboratories;
• review the draft regional public health laboratory strategic plan and endorse it for implementation in Member States;
• discuss ways to strengthen laboratory quality management system, biorisk, data management, equipment maintenance and diagnosis of infectious diseases of public health concern to meet the needs of International Health Regulations (2005); and
• adopt recommendations for improving the performance of the public health laboratories. 

This meeting was supported by the European Union (European Commission's Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation) as part of the project for "Strengthening health laboratories to minimize potential biological risks".

Related links

Intercountry meeting of directors of public health laboratories in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Tunis, Tunisia, 24–27 February 2015

European Commission's Directorate‐General for Development and Cooperation