Russia boosts Namibia defenses against deadly outbreaks
Russia’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, handed over a mobile anti-epidemic laboratory to Namibia on Wednesday to help the African nation improve its ability to detect and respond to dangerous infectious diseases.
The mobile facility was officially transferred to Namibia’s Ministry of Health and Social Services during a ceremony in the capital, Windhoek.
“Currently, 25 specialists from the Namibian Ministry of Health are undergoing comprehensive theoretical and practical training in organizing mobile laboratories, ensuring biological safety during research into particularly dangerous infections, and mastering modern methods for detecting and identifying pathogens,” Rospotrebnadzor said.
The laboratory transfer is part of Russia’s broader public health cooperation program with African countries. Rospotrebnadzor delivered 20 mobile anti-epidemic laboratories to 11 African nations, where they are being used to respond to infectious disease outbreaks, including the ongoing Ebola outbreak.
Russian medical specialists have been working alongside Ugandan health workers to bolster disease surveillance, treatment capacity, and outbreak response, while in June about 7,000 Russian-made PCR tests were deployed in Uganda and neighboring DR Congo. A mobile anti-epidemic laboratory supplied by Moscow in 2024 has also strengthened the country’s ability to rapidly diagnose dangerous infectious diseases.
The DR Congo declared an Ebola outbreak on May 15, marking the country’s 17th since the virus was first identified there in 1976. The Bundibugyo strain detected in the country has also raised concerns among regional health authorities due to the risk of cross-border transmission.
As of July 2, the largest Ebola outbreak continues in the DR Congo, where 1,460 cases have been confirmed, 447 people have died, and 213 have recovered. Neighboring Uganda has recorded 20 cases, two deaths, and 16 recoveries. France has reported one imported case with no fatalities.
Moscow has also supplied technical assistance to several other African nations, including Rwanda, the DR Congo, Guinea, and Ethiopia, during outbreaks of mpox, which was declared a public health emergency across parts of the continent in 2024.
