EU hands over diagnostic kits and supplies for 8,000 PCR tests worth 100,000 Euros to Kyrgyzstan

AKIPRESS.COM - COVID-19 related supplies totalling to 100,000 Euros were handed over by the European Union to the Kyrgyz Ministry of Health and Social Development to support Kyrgyzstan's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The supplies include diagnostic kits and materials enough for doing 8000 PCR tests, the EU Delegation to Kyrgyzstan said.
Head of the European Union Delegation to the Kyrgyz Republic, Ambassador Eduard Auer noted that the EU was among the first partners to provide Kyrgyzstan assistance in tackling COVID-19.
"These supplies will increase the testing capacity of Kyrgyz healthcare system and help brave Kyrgyz medical workers do their duty of protecting people from COVID-19. The pandemic hit us all hard, but jointly we can overcome all the difficulties and consequences it has brought to us. The EU remains a reliable partner of Kyrgyz people and we are committed to further support Kyrgyzstan in its fight with COVID," Ambassador Auer said at the handover ceremony.
Deputy Minister of Health and Social Development of the Kyrgyz Republic Nurbolot Usenbayev expressed gratitude for the EU gratuitous support to the population of the Kyrgyz Republic in the fight against COVID-19 by training an additional reserve of laboratory specialists, which was so necessary for Kyrgyzstan, as well as providing laboratory material for the diagnosis of COVID-19.
The supplies were provided under EU funded Project 53 (P53) of the EU Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear and Risk Mitigation Centres of Excellence Initiative (EU CBRN CoE). The provision of supplies is part of a larger effort by the European Union, including the EU CBRN CoE, to allocate funds to partner countries to support their national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Project 53 received extra funding to assist the project's partners in their COVID-19 mitigation efforts, including provision of equipment and supplies, training and support for regional cooperation.
In an earlier phase of the project, Kyrgyz experts were trained in processing and diagnostics of clinical samples potentially infected by Especially Dangerous Pathogens (EDPs), as well as, to be biosafety and biosecurity trainers.