The White House released a report highly anticipated on ways to enhance biosecurity in the United States. Produced by an intra-governmental working group that was set up by day President George W. Bush before he left office, the report calls for changes to the rules governing the handling, storage and management of 82 dangerous pathogens and toxins that make up select list of government officials.
Instead of applying the same standards of safety to all agents, researchers have complained for years, the report recommends a layered system that harden the security for the most dangerous agents and relax rules for more benign. The idea is contained in a bill that was introduced last fall Senate of the United States; the new report could boost the chances of the bill to be passed by Congress.
The working group also wants the government to tighten the screening and monitoring of researchers working with dangerous pathogens. And it calls for a set of minimum standards of physical security in the laboratories where these pathogens are stored and handled.
0 Komentar