The World Bank has invested $750,000 to build a virology laboratory in order to help Albania better prepare for pandemics like the H1N1 swine flu virus
By Tirana Times Staff
With the swine flu pandemic already knocking at Albania’s door, the new virology laboratory financed by the World Bank couldn’t come at a better time. It was inaugurated this week at the Institute of Public Health.
The new virology laboratory has been financed in part by the Avian Influenza Control and Human Pandemic Preparedness and Response Project and will help with the molecular diagnosis for the identification of the pandemic swine flu A/H1N1 and Avian Influenza A/H5N1 viruses.
The new technology (Real Time PCR) will shorten the time for diagnosis to less than one day, helping the health system to better mitigate the pandemic. The investment includes civil works, equipment, and training totaling $750,000.
Before the lab opened, the Albanian health system had to send its samples to countries like Hungary, Bulgaria and Italy and getting the results could get days.
The new laboratory is now part of European influenza surveillance network for tracking flu diseases and supported by WHO in Europe.
“The new virology lab will increase the diagnostic capacity in Albania for influenza and influenza-like diseases. This investment is a product of the good cooperation between the Ministry of Health, the Institute of Public Health and the Task Force Secretariat of the Avian Influenza Project in the Ministry of Agriculture,” said Ibrahim Hackaj, Task Team Leader of the Project
The World Bank is further assisting Albania in pandemic preparedness by financing through the Avian Influenza project purchases of Tamiflu, traditional flu vaccines, and efforts to strengthen other preventive and treatment capacities.
In addition, the World Bank is considering a further request from the Government of Albania to allocate additional funds under the Health System Modernization project to support the pandemic preparedness.
