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Russia partnership boosts Ethiopia’s epidemic readiness — institute head

Director of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute Mesay Hailu stressed that training in the use of mobile laboratories represents great importance for the country and is the cornerstone for a rapid and effective response to emergencies and especially dangerous infectious diseases

NAIROBI, April 23. /TASS/. Collaboration with Russia allows Ethiopia to increase skills and resources in the fight against epidemics of acute infectious diseases, Director of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Mesay Hailu, stated.

"The healthcare management system, as well as all measures aimed at mitigating the spread of infectious diseases, require constant improvement, and our partnership with Russia is precisely the foundation that allows us to improve the quality and level of response and fulfill all strategically important tasks," Mesay Hailu said during the opening of the first Russian-African exercises of rapid response teams to sanitary and epidemiological emergencies in the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.

He stressed that training in the use of mobile laboratories represents great importance for the country and is the cornerstone for a rapid and effective response to emergencies and especially dangerous infectious diseases.

"The system of high-quality mobile laboratories, which has high standards and advanced equipment, allows for urgent diagnostics of infectious diseases and helps combat outbreaks of epidemics, pandemics, and carry out all necessary actions for a quick and effective response to emergencies. The use of mobile laboratories makes it possible to identify pathogenic organisms and provides a high level of resistance to the spread of infectious diseases," the head of the institute said.

The three-day exercises, organized by the Russian Federal State Agency for Health and Consumer Rights (Rospotrebnadzor) together with the Ethiopian Health Ministry, will be held from April 23 to 25 in Addis Ababa in a hybrid format and will bring together about 100 participants from 15 African countries, as well as international organizations. As part of the exercise, a demonstration of Russian-made mobile laboratories will be held. Participants will work out the skills of practical interaction between specialists from international epidemiological and laboratory groups in responding to an outbreak of an infectious disease, and share experiences on strategies and tactics for using mobile laboratory units to respond to public health emergencies.

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