The equipment provided to the Republic of the Congo is aimed at strengthening monitoring and prevention of infectious diseases
Russia has delivered a mobile laboratory to the Republic of the Congo to bolster the country’s capacity to detect and monitor infectious diseases, the Russian embassy in the African state reported on Saturday.
The ceremony was attended by Congo’s minister of health and population, Jean Rosaire Ibara, and Russian ambassador Ilyas Iskandarov.
During the ceremony, Iskandarov emphasized that the laboratory “will enable research to be conducted in compliance with all biosafety requirements in epidemic and epizootic hotspots located in remote and hard-to-reach areas not covered by the stationary laboratory network, as well as in zones affected by natural and man-made emergencies.”
Specific steps were also agreed upon for the training of Congolese specialists to use the laboratory.
The Russian ambassador had met with Congo’s previous minister of health and population, Gilbert Mokoki, in January to formalize the handover of the mobile laboratory. The embassy stated that “an agreement was reached to conduct joint Russian-Congolese scientific research on the prevention of infectious diseases and training of specialists of various profiles on the basis of Rospotrebnadzor [the Russian health watchdog] – infectious disease specialists, virologists, parasitologists.”
In June 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso agreed to establish a joint laboratory for the prevention of infectious diseases.
Additionally, in September 2024, Russia provided the country with diagnostic tests for mpox and organized training courses for Congolese specialists as part of its support to African countries in combating the disease.
In August, Rospotrebnadzor announced that Russian specialists had conducted courses on the prevention and diagnosis of infections in the Congo, with a particular focus on mpox, the statement added. Brazzaville has expressed an interest in maintaining access to Russian diagnostic tests and in strengthening collaboration with Rospotrebnadzor for epidemic response efforts. According to the statement, Rospotrebnadzor plans “to assist international partners …[and] will provide Russian monkeypox diagnostic tests to other African countries.”
