Biological threats are among the main challenges today, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said at the first meeting of the Biosafety Council under the Council of Ministers, BelTA has learned.

"The first meeting of the Biosafety Council is held in accordance with the government resolution adopted in September this year. The importance of these issues increases every year. This is confirmed by the intensive spread of the most dangerous infectious diseases of humans and animals in the world, antibiotic resistance of microorganisms, outbreaks of such dangerous diseases as cholera, plague, measles and so on which seemed to have been defeated. A serious threat to the living world is also posed by the not always controlled scientific activities to study pathogenic substances, microorganisms and pathogens of the most dangerous diseases," Roman Golovchenko said.

He urged to pay close attention to all these aspects and build an active monitoring and warning system. "The state of biological safety in our country is generally assessed as stable. However this should not put anyone at ease. The danger of biological threats, namely the lightning speed of their spread and the limited capabilities in terms of mass protective measures, is the main challenge for us," the prime minister said.