On 11 March 2021, COVID-19 related supplies totalling to one hundred thousand of euros were handed over by the European Union to the Kyrgyz Ministry of Health and Social Development to support Kyrgyzstan’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The supplies include diagnostic kits and materials enough for doing 8000 PCR tests.

Head of the European Union Delegation to the Kyrgyz Republic, Ambassador Eduard Auer noted that the EU was among the first partners to provide Kyrgyzstan assistance in tackling COVID-19.

“These supplies will increase the testing capacity of Kyrgyz healthcare system and help brave Kyrgyz medical workers do their duty of protecting people from COVID-19. The pandemic hit us all hard, but jointly we can overcome all the difficulties and consequences it has brought to us. The EU remains a reliable partner of Kyrgyz people and we are committed to further support Kyrgyzstan in its fight with COVID,” Ambassador Auer said at the handover ceremony.

Deputy Minister of Health and Social Development of the Kyrgyz Republic Nurbolot Usenbayev expressed gratitude for the EU gratuitous support to the population of the Kyrgyz Republic in the fight against COVID-19 by training an additional reserve of laboratory specialists, which was so necessary for Kyrgyzstan, as well as providing laboratory material for the diagnosis of COVID-19 .

Mr. David Cleave, Executive Director of the ISTC, voiced his ‘gratitude to the European Union for the additional funding to address the many challenges that the pandemic has created, as part of the EU’s longer-term commitment and cooperation to enhance Biosafety and Biosecurity in Central Asia, including Kyrgyzstan. As well as, the deep appreciation for the cooperation and commitment by our Kyrgyz colleagues to work together with the ISTC and the other regional partners in this area.

The supplies were provided under EU funded Project 53 (P53) of the EU Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear and Risk Mitigation Centres of Excellence Initiative (EU CBRN CoE). The provision of supplies is part of a larger effort by the European Union, including the EU CBRN CoE, to allocate funds to partner countries to support their national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Project 53 received extra funding to assist the project’s partners in their COVID-19 mitigation efforts, including provision of equipment and supplies, training and support for regional cooperation.

In an earlier phase of the project, Kyrgyz experts were trained in processing and diagnostics of clinical samples potentially infected by Especially Dangerous Pathogens (EDPs), as well as, to be biosafety and biosecurity trainers.

To remind, the European Union mobilized more than EUR 43 Million to support Kyrgyzstan in the response to COVID-19. The support is a comprehensive response directed towards supporting health system and capacities, crisis management, macro-financial stability, social protection, food security and support to the private sector.

The ISTC implements Project 53 funded within the framework of the EU CBRN CoE initiative. The EU CBRN CoE Initiative covering 62 partner countries in eight regions is led by the European Commission (EC) and implemented with the support of EC Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI). The EU CBRN CoE Secretariat for Central Asia is based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.