The Ministry of Health and the World Bank are strengthening the ability of the Center for Public Health to diagnose COVID-19 and other viral infections

The Ministry of Health, with the support of the World Bank, has purchased a new system (amplifier) for polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which is already installed in the reference laboratory of virology research of the Center for public health.

The new amplifier will allow conducting more PCR studies used to diagnose viral infections, in particular COVID-19, and allow detecting the presence of the virus in the body even with a minimum amount of it.

“We have received a modern amplifier marked as IVD, that is, the possibility of using it for In Vitro Diagnostics, which is certainly important when conducting laboratory studies of clinical samples of patients, including COVID-19. Such studies are conducted not only to confirm the diagnosis, but also for initial screening of samples for further sequencing, that is, to detect mutations in the virus. From the experience of using such equipment, I note that in addition to the high accuracy of the results, such an amplifier makes it possible to use a wide range of reagents and consumables and maintain the necessary pace of research,” said Ihor Kuzin, Deputy Minister of Health and chief state sanitary doctor.

It should be recalled that due to sequencing of COVID-19 samples, it was possible to identify a new variety of the Omicron strain – VA.5, which has already appeared in Ukraine. In addition, sequencing helped to recognize new variants of coronavirus: 1 strain A.4 in the Zaporizhzhia oblast, 2 strains BF.5 in the Ivano-Frankivsk oblast and Rivne oblast.

The World Health Organization is a partner of the Ministry of Health in a joint project with the World Bank to strengthen the ability of Center for Public Health to detect viral infections and prevent their spread.