Rospotrebnadzor Director Anna Popova held a panel session on the topic “From Aid to Partnership: Joint Efforts to Fight Epidemics”
Photo: Julia PYKHALOVA
As part of the Second Summit and the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum, on July 28, the head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, held a panel session on the topic “From aid to partnership: joint efforts to combat the epidemics”.
Opening the session, Russia’s Chief Medical Officer noted that Russia and Africa have already gained experience of successful cooperation in the field of epidemic prevention and are actively implementing joint projects to prevent and combat infections.
“Russia-Africa cooperation is built on a long history and is capable of moving from assistance to the level of partnership between countries, which will help the continent to gain sovereignty in the field of biosafety, strengthen its own potential and eliminate obstacles to the economy. development caused by infections”, emphasized Anna Popova.
The main topics of the session were the planning and conducting of joint scientific research, the development of tests and vaccines, the training of personnel and the development of laboratory infrastructure in partner countries. At the end of the session, the parties confirmed the need to deepen cooperation in the field of guaranteeing the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the population, responding to infectious threats, developing human resources and laboratory infrastructures. They also discussed the mobile laboratories delivered to Uganda and Burundi the day before.
After the session, the head of Rospotrebnadzor, in an interview with journalists, emphasized that this is a multilateral partnership that also benefits Russia and answered KP’s questions:
– Do the supplies of equipment and mobile laboratories to African countries allow Russia to receive feedback in the form of knowledge and experience, and will this project be expanded?
– Our laboratories have been working for quite some time already in almost 20 countries of the world, we first accompany these deliveries with education and training of personnel, joint research. The work is being carried out successfully in Guinea, Vietnam, the laboratories are starting to work in Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the work in the transferred laboratories is being carried out in all the EAEU countries and in the territory of some CIS members. In Mongolia, for example, there are pockets of plague and we are working together on its investigation, using donated mobile laboratories. This is an effective project that also responds to the interests of Russia.
– Is there anything we can learn from our African health partners?
– Today is an absolute dedication to the cause, an incredible desire to help its citizens and solve all these problems, it is admirable.
