Bahrain’s National Influenza Center wins WHO award

Agencies | Muscat                                              

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

Bahrain’s National Influenza Center won the World Health Organization (WHO) Award for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, in recognition of its continuous participation in supporting surveillance activities and the exchange of influenza viruses with collaborating centers over the past two years (2021-2022).

This was announced at the conclusion of the third scientific conference and the sixth meeting of the Acute Respiratory Infection Surveillance Network in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, which was held in the Sultanate of Oman

The WHO award also recognized the center’s active role and  contributions, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, in supporting surveillance activities and the exchange of influenza viruses with centers collaborating with the Geneva-based organization.

The aim was to ramp up surveillance of influenza and other emerging respiratory diseases and optimize the use of data to prepare control programs and conduct research related to influenza and other respiratory viruses.

Established in 2011 in the public health laboratories, the National Influenza Center was accredited as a national center for influenza and a member of the Global Network for Influenza Surveillance and Export (GISRS) by the World Health Organization in 2012.

The centre, an offshoot of the Health Ministry, was approved after it  passed all the quality requirements specified in the international standards, and participated in the external quality assessment programs (EQAP) provided by the World Health Organization through the GISRS network,

The accreditation was renewed in 2018, after a delegation of WHO experts visited the center to verify the continuity of implementation of the requirements and passing all local and international quality requirements.