The large-scale COVID-19 response operation in Tajikistan expanded as a new team of experts landed in Dushanbe on 13 June 2020, deployed through the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), the WHO-coordinated expert network for emergencies.
The 4 experts in public health, epidemiology and laboratory services will work closely with their peers in Tajikistan to strengthen disease surveillance and laboratory systems as part of the COVID-19 response operation, under the coordination of the newly established Public Health Emergency Operations Centre.
“Stronger laboratory capacity in Tajikistan will benefit many response core functions, including disease detection, contact tracing and testing for COVID-19. In particular, the specialists deployed under GOARN will help improve the surveillance system at national and regional levels by working closely with their colleagues at the Tajik sanitary-epidemiological service,” said Dr Bahtygul Karriyeva, ad interim Head of the WHO Country Office in Tajikistan.
“Combining the experience of Tajikistan’s laboratories with a group of laboratory experts from Germany and the United Kingdom will boost testing capacity in Tajikistan,” added Dr Benedict Gannon, Laboratory Expert of the United Kingdom Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST). “We will build on our experiences to help develop the testing work that the Tajikistan Government has already implemented. The pandemic is an international problem and this collaboration is a great example of the international effort that will be required to beat this disease.”
The coordinated efforts of the GOARN experts complement the ongoing work of the emergency medical team (EMT) in Tajikistan. While the EMT provides the health-care workforce with hands-on advice on the treatment of severe COVID-19 cases and the prevention of in-hospital disease spread, GOARN laboratory and surveillance support will focus on reinforcing the Tajik public health laboratory specialists with knowledge and practice to detect and monitor disease transmission.
“Rapid response capacities of the GOARN and EMT initiative are essential operational assets in emergency response operations coordinated by WHO. This current large-scale operation demonstrates unity among the governments and health institutions of different countries in the face of this pandemic,” said Mr Pat Drury, GOARN Manager. “We are grateful to the partners for the ability to overcome the challenges of global travel restrictions to join this operation, but also to the Government of Tajikistan for their commitment to place the health of their citizens first.”