Raising biosafety awareness in public health laboratories in Egypt: lessons from a governorate partnering competition

Background Strengthening biosafety culture in public health laboratories requires not only policies and technical training, but also participatory approaches that make biosafety priorities visible to both frontline staff and leadership Aim This paper aims to present a national awareness-building model for positioning biosafety as a public health priority by raising awareness, engaging leadership, and demonstrating how a national partnering competition can strengthen biosafety culture in Egyptian public health laboratories. Methods A qualitative descriptive analysis was conducted on biosafety proposal concepts generated through a national call launched by the Biorisk Management Unit (BRM) at the Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL), Egypt, inviting public health laboratories from all 27 governorates to develop joint biosafety initiatives through twinning or tripartite partnerships. The submitted concepts were tailored to local operational realities and reviewed by a multisectoral jury of biosafety experts operating within a One Health framework. In this manuscript, the proposals are interpreted as indicators of biosafety awareness, perceived needs, and locally prioritized solutions rather than evidence of implemented interventions or formally evaluated outcomes. Results Out of the 27 Egyptian governorates, 24 participated, generating 10 biosafety-focused proposals covering 17 thematic areas. Digital innovation emerged as the most frequent theme, including smartphone applications, QR code-based tools, and artificial intelligence-assisted solutions. The highest-ranked concepts focused on hazardous waste management, access to biosafety documents and safety data, equipment identification, staff learning, and structured knowledge exchange. In November 2025, the winning proposals were announced during the annual CPHL conference in the presence of laboratory leadership and Ministry of Health officials. Follow-up on implementation was planned through the BRM team, with implementation progress to be monitored using predefined indicators. Conclusion This paper presents a national awareness-building model demonstrating how participatory, bottom-up approaches can support policy dialogue, inform future biosafety strengthening efforts, and promote locally driven, context-adapted solutions within resource-constrained public health laboratory systems.