The healthcare infrastructure of southern Kazakhstan has gained a strategically important facility: the first modern virology laboratory in the Turkestan Region has begun operating. The region's own virology base will allow it to analyze biological samples quickly and accurately on site, infohub.kz reports.
The regional akimat noted that the opening of the region's first modern virology laboratory will allow Turkestan doctors to avoid wasting precious time sending biomaterials to the nearest major cities and instead begin testing immediately, saving patients' lives faster.
It also emphasized that the creation of the laboratory expands the region's pandemic preparedness capabilities, including epidemiological surveillance and laboratory capacity building.
"Until today, the region had no virology laboratory of its own, and biological samples were sent to Shymkent and Almaty. And that takes time," the statement said.
Vice Minister of Health Timur Sultangaziyev and the republic's Chief State Sanitary Doctor Sarkhat Beisenova attended the opening.
The akimat noted that the laboratory's appearance in the region was made possible with support from the Pandemic Fund. Local executive bodies expressed gratitude to the World Health Organization, the UN Development Programme and all partners for their support in implementing the Pandemic Fund project in Kazakhstan.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that Kazakhstan's first smart laboratory had been launched in Almaty on the basis of an infectious diseases hospital. The system's main feature was an automated track line that independently distributes and transports test tubes by barcode.