WHO Country Office in Turkmenistan has handed around 10,000 laboratory PCR tests over to the virological laboratory of the Center for Public Health and Nutrition of the Ministry of Healthcare and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan.
The transfer of the PCR tests took place within the framework of a joint WHO-EU project for COVID-19 Crisis Response for Central Asian countries, the press service of the EU Delegation to Turkmenistan said in its Tuesday statement.
The delivery was inaugurated by the Acting WHO Representative in Turkmenistan Dr. Tasnim Atatrah and the Ambassador of the EU Delegation to Turkmenistan Diego Ruiz Alonso. The EU Ambassador also discussed future cooperation prospects with Azat Ovezov, the Director of the Center for Public Health and Nutrition.
"Development of the health sector plays a vital role for the development of the whole country. The European Union would like to ensure that through the projects that we fund, we ensure sustainability and overall improvement of the living standards of the people of Turkmenistan," Ambassador Diego Ruiz Alonso said.
In turn, Ovezov noted that the Centre has already benefited from the cooperation with the EU-funded project, namely SARD III that helped to improve the lab testing system and introduced ten new tests for food products to certify the quality.
According to WHO data, Turkmenistan has no confirmed coronavirus cases.
Turkmenistan developed its COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan in April last year. The goal of the plan is to prevent the importation of the infection into the country.