As part of the International Health Regulation (IHR) implementation, the Global One Health initiative (GOHi) established four regional influenza molecular laboratories in Adama, Bahir Dar, Addis Ababa and Arbaminch in Ethiopia through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
GOHi purchased real-time PCR Quantstudio5 machines with ancillary equipment and start-up reagents and delivered them to four laboratories. Following the handover of PCR equipment, GOHi and Africa Biosystems Limited biomedical engineers and system application specialists conducted two days of installation and operator training on the machines at each site.
These laboratories will help expand the testing capacity of the national influenza surveillance program from one reference laboratory to five and increase Ethiopia’s health system preparedness and pathogen detection capacity for health security.