Abstract
A stunning laboratory-acquired SARS case broke out in Singapore in September 2003 and, only a couple of months later, a case also took place in Taiwan. The single infection case was diagnosed and confirmed, but did not spread, thanks to the swift inspection and emergency management of Taiwan CDC in December 2003. The CDC is Taiwan's governing authority for prevention and control of communicable diseases, with full responsibility for management against severe biological hazards. Since this incident, we at Taiwan CDC have taken the opportunity to initiate an ongoing revision of the Communicable Disease Control Act and various regulations governing construction standards, occupational safety, fire security and environmental protection in Taiwan, in order to improve the standard requirements and mechanisms of supervising biological safety in laboratories. As a result, the level of biological safety of laboratories in Taiwan has been effectively enhanced through certain management measures of the government.
Through strict inspection of laboratory safety by CDC, along with education, promotion and practical training, all of Taiwan's laboratories for microorganism examinations and related research have made great progress in terms of safety inspection of facilities and equipment, and awareness of safety and personal protection by the operational personnel. Aspects relating to inspection quality and research accomplishments, the physical safety of the research personnel and environmental security have been addressed and constitute a very meaningful and prominent indicator in the course of establishing Taiwan's own laboratory management system concerning biological safety.
A National Biological Safety Committee was formed by relevant government institutions, in collaboration with several private organizations of biological safety for the purpose of policy integration, planning, promotion and implementation. Meanwhile, with complementary measures such as founding of a national information management system for laboratory microorganisms, establishing an accreditation system for laboratory safety, and enhancement in R&D in technology concerning domestic safety equipment, it is expected that the management system of laboratory biological safety would be comprehensive and enable Taiwan to become a meaningful and contributing member towards global biological safety.