Prof Ben Howden celebrates milestone in public health and disease surveillance as Fiji launches Pathogen Genomics Laboratory
In a major advancement in public health in the Pacific, Fiji has launched its Pathogen Genomics Laboratory. The state-of-the-art facility, based at the Fiji Centre for Disease Control, marks a historic milestone in the country’s ability to rapidly detect, characterize, and respond to infectious disease threats - from antimicrobial-resistant bacteria to viral diseases like influenza, COVID-19 and mpox.
“We are proud to work with such a dedicated and skilled team in Fiji. While this is the launch of the laboratory, it is, in fact, the launch of new partnerships - with clinicians, laboratory staff, and researchers to generate evidence that will benefit not just Fiji, but the entire Pacific,” said Professor Ben Howden, Director of the Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory, Doherty Institute and Dept Microbiology & Immunology.
Image: Staff of Fiji Centre for Disease Control with guests including Prof Ben Howden during the launch of the laboratory. (Ministry of Health and Medical Services/M. Katonivualiku)
Since the launch of molecular testing mainly focused on confirming presence of diseases such as COVID-19 in 2020, Fiji Centre for Disease Control worked with WHO, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Pacific Community (SPC), the Doherty Institute in Melbourne (which includes the Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL), and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance), to strengthen this capacity, culminating in the successful launch of in-country genomic sequencing.
Read the full article that was originally published on 7 May 2025 by the World Health Organisation and 13 May 2025 by the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection & Immunity.
Prof Ben Howden spoke with ABC Pacific Beat on 15 May about the launch of the Pathogen Genetics Laboratory in Fiji.