The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has delivered US$310,964 worth of laboratory equipment, reagents, and supplies to Tajikistan’s Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population (MoHSPP).
According to the US Embassy in Dushanbe, the items were handed over to a MoHSPP during an official ceremony on January 27.
The donated equipment and supplies, including items necessary for conducting PCR tests, reagents for diagnosing COVID-19, laboratory plastic, and personal protective equipment (PPE) will be used by laboratory professionals to enhance their efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19. These items will also help diagnose and fight other infectious diseases.
This latest donation is part of CDC’s ongoing project in Tajikistan designed to help the country fight the pandemic. As part of this project, CDC, through partner organizations, has already trained 643 health providers in Dushanbe and Khujand on basic infection control measures, helped the Tajik Ministry of Health develop guiding documents on infection control, and helped assess 18 health facilities in three cities to identify barriers to an effective COVID-19 response. Additionally, 27 laboratory specialists were trained on diagnosing COVID-19 using reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) method.
CDC and its partners will continue to help the Tajik government improve infection control practices at health care facilities. In total, CDC is investing US$1.6 million in Tajikistan’s COVID-19 response.
In 2020, CDC’s office in Central Asia celebrated its 25th anniversary. The first CDC office in the region was opened in 1995 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Today, the agency has staff stationed in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan supporting those countries’ ministries of health to train health workers, strengthen their health systems, and respond to COVID-19, HIV, tuberculosis, and other infectious disease epidemics.
