To ensure the quality of biobank services in Kazakhstan
On February 22, a round table was held at the National Accreditation Center of the Technical Regulation Committee of the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which was attended by about 20 representatives from five industry and scientific specialized organizations of Kazakhstan that have biobanks at their disposal.
The concept of biobanking is increasingly entering our lives. Such areas as plant breeding, livestock breeding, transplantation and transfusiology, treatment of genetically determined diseases and many others are associated with the activities of biobanks – specialized repositories for the organized collection, labeling, processing, storage and analysis of samples of biological materials and related data for scientific and biomedical research and manipulation.
Many biobanks operate in Kazakhstan. The requirements for their work are fixed in the international standard ISO 20387:2018 "Biotechnology. Biobanking. General requirements for biosafety". However, the guarantee of proper compliance with all processes and procedures related to biobanks is their accreditation, which will demonstrate that biobanks have passed a strict conformity assessment process and ensure confidence in the high quality of their services.
О том, каким требованиям должны соответствовать биобанки, чтобы пройти аккредитацию, ученым, научным сотрудникам, медикам, владельцам животноводческих хозяйств было рассказано в ходе Круглого стола.
Исполняющий обязанности Генерального директора НЦА Нурлан Шокбарбаев отметил, что аккредитация служит целям защиты потребителей, обеспечения безопасности, устранения технических барьеров, продвижения экспорта, что открывает большие возможности перед инновационным направлением биобанкинга.
Scientists, researchers, doctors, owners of livestock farms were told about the requirements that biobanks must meet in order to be accredited during the Round Table.
Acting Director General of the National Accreditation Center Nurlan Shokbarbayev noted that accreditation serves the purposes of consumer protection, security, elimination of technical barriers, export promotion, which opens up great opportunities for the innovative direction of biobanking.
The heads and specialists of the National Accreditation Center spoke in detail and intelligibly about the procedure for passing accreditation, the requirements for accredited biobanks, noted that in Kazakhstan these processes are unified with world practice, and the organization employs three accredited expert auditors on biobanks who have been trained and interned in South Korea and India, where biobanks are widely represented.
The participants of the Round Table asked the specialists of the National Accreditation Center questions of interest, received detailed answers and contacts for further consultations on the issue of accreditation of biobanks.