Russia launches first epidemic response drills in Africa
Russia's health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, has collaborated with Ethiopia's Health Ministry to conduct simulation drills for rapid response to sanitary and epidemiological emergencies in Africa as part of efforts to enhance the continent's epidemic readiness.
The inaugural Russian-African International Exercises for Rapid Response Teams began in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, on Wednesday, Rospotrebnadzor announced in a press release. The agency said medical experts and public health officials from 15 African nations, Russia, and global organizations are taking part in the exercises for hands-on training in managing disease outbreaks.
According to the statement, Russian specialists will teach the principles of team formation, resource mobilization, epidemiological investigation, and international coordination skills using mobile laboratories that Moscow supplied to Addis Ababa.
In an opening speech read on his behalf, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated Moscow's commitment to strengthening health partnerships with African countries, stating that the Ethiopia initiative 'undoubtedly takes our cooperation to a qualitatively new level.'
'The Russian Federation attaches great importance to the development of international cooperation to counter the threat of dangerous infectious diseases. African states have traditionally been important partners for us in this area,' Putin said.
He noted that since the second Russia-Africa summit in July 2023, Moscow has launched a large-scale program to help African states in combating outbreaks.
'In less than two years, more than 150 African specialists have already been trained within the framework of this program, joint research is being conducted to study dozens of dangerous infections, and six mobile laboratories have been delivered to African countries,' Putin said.
The program in Addis Ababa is the latest outcome of the Russia-Africa Summit, where both sides agreed to expand cooperation in various fields, including health. Rospotrebnadzor has since ramped up its activities.
Russia donated a mobile laboratory to the Republic of the Congo in February, following an agreement between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso last year to establish a joint laboratory for infectious disease prevention. Russia has also provided assistance to Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, DR Congo, Guinea, and Ethiopia in response to the mpox outbreak, which was declared a sanitary and epidemiological emergency last year.
During recent talks with the deputy director general of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Raji Tajudin, in Ethiopia, Rospotrebnadzor chief Anna Popova classified Africa as one of the regions most vulnerable to infectious disease risks.
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