Welcome to RELAPA 2
The 2nd in-person ordinary meeting of the Network of Public Laboratories Producing Antivenoms (RELAPA) will take place from May 13 to 15 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
RELAPA celebrates 7 years since its establishment. The network was created in 2018 under the coordination of PANAFTOSA/VPH-PAHO/WHO with the aim of promoting information exchange and cooperation among laboratories. Since then, various activities have been developed, including the organization of regular technical and strategic seminars to encourage experience sharing and discussions among member laboratories.
The purpose of RELAPA is to expand the availability and accessibility of safe and effective antivenoms, including in countries that do not have their own national production laboratories, or in cases where the production of certain antivenoms by a single laboratory is insufficient to meet national demand.
Currently, nine countries in the region (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela) have twelve public laboratories that produce and distribute antivenoms against venoms from various poisonous animals.
During this second in-person meeting, the progress, achievements, and challenges faced will be presented, along with possible solutions to ensure the production of safe and effective antivenoms and to guarantee their timely availability throughout the Americas. The objectives of the meeting are:
To share technical cooperation opportunities established within the RELAPA framework.
To understand and assess antivenom production from a quality and regulatory perspective.
To discuss strategies for strengthening RELAPA in order to meet the WHO goal of reducing snakebite-related deaths and disabilities by 50% by 2030.
RELAPA 2 is promoted by the Pan American Center for Foot-and-Mouth Disease and Veterinary Public Health (PANAFTOSA/VPH) of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), with support from the PAHO/WHO Strategic Fund, the Special Program of the PAHO/WHO Regional Platform for Innovation and Production, the Wellcome Trust project, and the Vital Brazil Institute.
We look forward to welcoming you to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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