Azerbaijan, Baku, April 12 / Trend /
A state-of-the-art disease-monitoring facility built for the Ministry of Defense has been opened in Baku.
United States Ambassador Matthew Bryza, the Director of the United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Ken Myers, and Government of Azerbaijan officials, on April 12 participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony, the U.S. Embassy told Trend today.
This facility was constructed with U.S. government assistance within the framework of bilateral cooperation supported by the U.S. Department of Defense Cooperative Biological Engagement Program (CBEP).
Ambassador Matthew Bryza hailed the opening of the Laboratory as a sign of the expanding U.S.-Azerbaijan partnership. "Working together American and Azerbaijan senior officials and experts are enhancing Azerbaijan's capacity to respond to infectious disease outbreaks. We look forward to deepening cooperation in this area in the future," - Bryza told attendees "The United States stands ready to assist our Azerbaijani partners in their efforts to increase public health," Bryza added.
As a result of United States-Azerbaijani cooperation, ten Epidemiological Monitoring Stations are being built for the Ministries of Health, State Veterinary Service, and the Ministry of Defense throughout Azerbaijan. Over a million dollars has been spent on the construction of the Ministry of Defense Epidemiological Monitoring Station and it will be the first such laboratory built under the CBEP to be commissioned. Once fully installed in Azerbaijan, the CBEP laboratories will ensure rapid flow of disease data to local and national facilities.
Through the Department of Defense program, the United States partners with the Governments of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Ukraine to develop a disease surveillance and diagnostic capability at the national, regional, and district levels.