SIMBLE: production unit microbiology media completed
The SIMBLE project will conduct a clinical diagnostic trial in Western Africa of a simplified blood culture system to improve healthcare in low-resource settings. The project is coordinated by Prins Leopold Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde (ITM), Belgium, with partners from Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, France, Malawi, the Netherlands, and Spain. Project coordinator Liselotte Hardy (ITM) and Jean-Claude Senou (CHNU-PPC, Benin) visited the Spanish SIMBLE consortium partner Reactivos Para Diagnóstico on the occasion of the completion of the microbiology media production unit developed for local production. To build this unit, a large shipping container was refurbished and equipped with the technical systems and equipment required to produce microbiology media for the SIMBLE project in a quality-assured way. The container was designed and fabricated in Barcelona, Spain and will be shipped and installed in Cotonou, Benin. Production will start in September 2022 to coincide with the start of the field study in Cotonou.