National and regional level laboratory specialists from Tajikistan visited the Public Health School of the University of West Attica and the Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, Greece, from 17–24 February, to learn about diagnostic techniques for different infectious diseases.
The programme focused on the molecular identification of viral, bacterial and parasitic infections. During the visit, the laboratory specialists observed and practiced different laboratory molecular detection techniques, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time PCR. Accurate and reliable diagnostics of infectious and non-infectious diseases is one of the most important components of the surveillance, prevention and treatment of diseases. Laboratories therefore play an extremely important role in the health care system.
Scaling up laboratory capacity
The Tajik delegation was led by Dr Amirzoda, Deputy Minister of Health and Social Protection and Chief State Sanitary Doctor of the Republic of Tajikistan. Dr Amirzoda expressed his thanks to the senior faculty members of the University of West Attica for giving the Tajik laboratory specialists the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills on molecular detection techniques. He pointed out the host institutions’ great professionalism and expertise and expressed hope for future fruitful cooperation with the Public Health School of the University of West Attica and the Hellenic Pasteur Institute.
The increased capacity of the laboratory specialists will greatly benefit the further development of the national laboratory system in Tajikistan. Tajikistan is in the process of scaling up laboratory capacity, including the diagnosis of different infectious diseases in both virological and bacteriological laboratories. To this end, the country is investing in essential laboratory equipment, capacity-building and training programmes and strengthened laboratory networks. The country has also established an effective mentorship programme to improve the overall quality management system. WHO supports these developments through the Better Labs for Better Health Initiative of WHO/Europe.
This visit was carried out with the WHO Country Office for Tajikistan with the cooperation of the Public Health School of the University of West Attica and the Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, Greece, as well as with the support of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Tajikistan.