Almost forty years ago, the Japanese government donated funds to the Department of Medical Sciences to construct the National Institute of Health (NIH), and provide it with laboratory equipment – support that not only strengthened Thailand’s public health system, but also symbolized close bilateral relations.
When the first COVID-19 case to be detected outside of China was reported in Thailand on 13 January 2020, Thai health authorities were able to control the outbreak, resulting in long periods without transmission of COVID-19 within the country., This would never have been possible without the NIH’s well-equipped laboratories and the trained staff who work relentlessly to detect and characterize c emerging infectious diseases. When many countries struggled to establish testing capacity for COVID-19, laboratories at the NIH provided support to countries such as Myanmar and the Maldives in testing for SARS-CoV-2, and in specialist work to map out the genetic sequence of these viruses to help monitor the evolution of the epidemic.
Dr Daniel Kertesz, WHO Representative to Thailand converses with representatives from the embassy of Japan in Thailand. © WHO/Ploy Phutpheng
The World Health Organization (WHO) in Thailand has been assisting the Ministry of Public Health and NIH in COVID-19 response since the beginning of the outbreak. Through WHO, financial and technical support has been mobilized from donors. This included support from the Government of Japan to renovate five units of basic biosafety level 2 and one unit of containment biosafety level 3 laboratories, and to equip them with new working systems. 
H.E. Japanese Ambassador Nashida Kazuya visiting the National Institute of Health Renovated Laboratories (Level 2 and 3). © WHO/Ploy Phutpheng
“The labs have been used to manage major disease outbreaks in the past, but the equipment and operations system were going out-of-date,” explained Dr. Supakit Sirilak, Director General of the Department of Medical Sciences. “Through a generous donation of nearly 100 million baht mobilized by the Government of Japan through the World Health Organization Thailand Office, modernization plans saw the renovation of workspaces, the installation of new IT, cooling and ventilation systems as well as other major work needed to ensure the labs could maintain their operational capacities as national, regional and global reference laboratories. We can now say that there are few places in Thailand with lab capabilities of this level and it allows us to deal with infectious pathogens safely without putting our staff at risk. 
H.E. Mr. Anutin Charnvirakul, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health, Dr Daniel Kertesz, WHO Representative to Thailand, H.E. Japanese Ambassador Nashida Kazuya, and Ministry of Public Health’s senior officials at a group photo session in front of the National Institute of Health Renovated Laboratories (Levels 2 and 3). © WHO/Ploy Phutpheng
On 22 June 2021, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul chaired the handover ceremony of the renovated laboratories by the Japanese Ambassador Nashida Kazuya, in the presence of the WHO Representative to Thailand, Dr Daniel Kertesz.
“Laboratories play an important role in supporting disease control. Biosafety laboratories are necessary for research and diagnostic work on highly dangerous pathogens,” said Mr. Charnvirakul. “Research and development of vaccines and treatment for COVID-19 and other emerging diseases must be conducted in this type of laboratory.” According to the Public Health Minister, biosafety level 3 also has the capacity to cover standardized COVID-19 tests from across the country.
Laboratories play key roles in achieving health security.. Not only do they contribute towards disease surveillance, patient management, and research,, they are also essential in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic response. At a time when the threat of COVID-19 still looms large and new variants are emerging, there is no better time to ensure that these viruses are handled in the most timely and secure way possible.
Thailand is now well-positioned to continue to support the COVID-19 response, including the local development and production of COVID-19 vaccines.. This handover marks another important milestone for health security in Thailand, and shows that bilateral relations between Thailand and Japan in the field of health remain strong after 37 years.
Written by Mimi Grachangnetara, Communications Advisor, WHO
Dr. Daniel Kertesz, Phiangjai Boonsuk, Kanpirom Wiboonpanich contributed to this article.
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