Pakistan Gets Mobile Disease Diagnosis Labs from USA

The Government of the United States of America has given the National Institute of Health (NIH) four mobile laboratories to enhance Pakistan’s capacity to diagnose COVID-19 and other contagious diseases.

The state-of-the-art infrastructure is particularly for remote areas that have limited testing facilities and will refine the accuracy of diagnoses, decrease testing turnaround time, and protect healthcare workers more.

The US Ambassador to Pakistan, Donald Blome; the federal Minister for Health, Abdul Qadir Patel; and other ministry officials attended the handover ceremony. The mobile laboratories that were provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were received by Minister Patel who thanked the US government for improving health services in Pakistan in what he termed as ‘a reflection of the countries’ sturdy bilateral ties’.

Ambassador Blome spoke to the Pakistani health officials and health workers and lauded their effective response to the pandemic. He also highlighted Pakistan’s quick and efficient vaccination campaigns.

He commented on America and Pakistan’s cooperation to strengthen health care systems for 75 years of their bilateral relations and mentioned that the donation of the laboratories supports this partnership by providing Pakistan with new tools to respond rapidly to future threats.

The ambassador said,

These mobile laboratories will strengthen the diagnostic capacity of the provincial health departments. They will enable the government to respond quickly and effectively in hard-to-reach remote areas during emergencies, or an outbreak and epidemic.

Since the pandemic began in early 2020, USAID has been striving to save lives and curb the spread of the coronavirus in more than 120 countries, including Pakistan. Its continued assistance provides emergency relief, bolsters health systems, enables vaccine readiness and distribution, enhances public health education, and protects health care workers and facilities.

Pakistan has received around 61.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, a million COVID-19 rapid diagnostic tests, and critical health supplies and training for health workers from the US as part of assistance worth around $70 million in direct support and $9.2 million in in-kind support.