The World Health Organization (WHO) and USAID donated  25 laboratory refrigerators and 12 water distillers to the National Agency for Public Health. The action is part of the joint activities of the WHO and USAID, to support the healthcare system in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The WHO and USAID donated 25 laboratory refrigerators and 12 water distillers to support the healthcare system engaged in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The humanitarian aid aims to provide laboratory equipment and strengthen laboratory capacity, ensuring continuity of diagnosis, and biosafety requirements in the laboratories of the National Agency for Public Health, including those involved in the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection by molecular biology techniques. 

Thus, the equipment will be distributed to all territorial Public Health Centers in Soroca, Edineț districts, and Bălți city (the north of Moldova), Chișinău, Orhei, Ungheni, Hîncești districts (the center of Moldova), and Căușeni, Cahul, Comrat districts (in the south of Moldova).  

Modern laboratory refrigerators will allow the safe storage of biological samples collected for testing for COVID-19, including other laboratory samples, as well as reagents for molecular biology techniques. 

Distillers for water purification from the centralized aqueduct will ensure the quality of the water when reconstituting the reagents and will ensure the laboratory procedures according to the requirements.

The donation is worth 60,000 dollars.

Joint actions between WHO and USAID focus on five important components: laboratories; rapid surveillance and response; clinical management and strengthening the health system; infection prevention and control; communication in risk situations. At the same time, WHO provides technical support to the Ministry of Health and the National Agency for Public Health to coordinate and monitor COVID-19 response actions, providing technical support in developing guidelines, technical recommendations in areas such as epidemiological surveillance and rapid response to public health emergencies, clinical management and strengthening of the health system, prevention, and control of infections, communication in risk situations, training for medical workers.

WHO, as well as all United Nations agencies in Moldova and development partners support the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic through activities aimed at protecting people and increasing the capacity of the COVID-19 pandemic health response and management system.