CDC Year in Review and Future Plans Include Laboratory Safety

By Kelly A. Briganti, Editorial Director, G2 Intelligence

Laboratory safety and diagnosis of infections figure prominently in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) review of 2015 and its agenda for 2016. The agency's Year in Review highlighted "the most pressing public health challenges of 2015" and areas of focus for 2016.

Those areas of focus included:

• Ebola. Following up on its efforts to control the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2015, the agency says its 2016 plans include establishing permanent offices in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to help detect and address new outbreaks and helping the African Union develop centers for disease control and prevention.

• Antibiotic resistance. The CDC intends to release a report in 2016 addressing prescribing practices and antibiotic resistance and will provide an interactive web platform offering access to relevant antibiotic resistance data.

• Global Health Security. A five-year roadmap is in the works to help the agency promote the Global Health Security Agenda that seeks to enable detection and prevention of infectious diseases throughout the world.

• Lab Safety. After establishing the Office of the Associate Director for Laboratory Science and Safety (OADLSS) in 2015, the agency said its goals for 2016 include using "lessons learned and best practices to mitigate" lab risks. The OADLSS was established to provide "scientific, technical, and managerial expertise and leadership in the development and enhancement of laboratory safety programs," "provide transparent flow of information across the laboratory community regarding laboratory science, safety and quality and sharing of best practices," and oversee lab safety and quality management at the CDC.