Question: At which of the following place WHO has announced to setup its BioHub Facility?
a) New York
b) Geneva
c) Spiez
d) Wuhan
Answer: (c)
Related Facts:-
- On 24 May 2021; the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Swiss Confederation t signed a Memorandum of Understanding to launch the first WHO BioHub Facility.
- It will be as part of the WHO BioHub System, which was announced in November 2020.
- This facility will enhance the rapid sharing of viruses and other pathogens between laboratories and partners globally.
- This first WHO BioHub facility will be based in Spiez, Switzerland, and will serve as a centre for the safe receipt, sequencing, storage and preparation of biological materials.
- The biological materials kept here for distribution to other laboratories, in order to inform risk assessments, and sustain global preparedness against these pathogens.
- Close international collaboration to ensure the timely sharing of epidemiological and clinical data as well as biological materials is of utmost importance.
- Switzerland supports the WHO BioHub initiative in its initial phase by providing the necessary infrastructure of a Swiss bio-safety laboratory in Spiez.
- Swiss Federal Councillor Alain Berset said that with this, we hope to contribute to the establishment of an international exchange system for SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging pathogens.