Africa | Ethiopia urges African countries to build capacity for disease prevention

Ethiopia’s Minister of Health, Mekdes Daba, called on African nations to enhance their capacity for disease prevention and control by investing in modern laboratory infrastructure and skilled medical personnel.

Daba made the remarks on Friday during the opening of the first Russian-African Sanitation and Emergency Rapid Response Team training seminar in Addis Ababa. The three-day seminar, hosted by Ethiopia, aimed at strengthening rapid response capabilities and improving the quality of research-based health services. The event gathered experts from 15 African countries.

As part of efforts to modernize Ethiopia’s health system, Russia provided a state-of-the-art mobile laboratory capable of diagnosing over 300 diseases. Daba expressed the commitment of both countries to deepen their collaboration in health-related areas while receiving the laboratory from Anna Popova, Head of Russia’s Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor).

According to Daba, the mobile laboratory will play a crucial role in delivering essential health services not only in Ethiopia but also in neighboring countries, thus enhancing regional health cooperation and preparedness for epidemics.

She also noted that Ethiopia currently operates 33 laboratories and plans to increase this number to 40 in the near future, thereby strengthening both national and regional surveillance and response capabilities.

Daba emphasized that Russian support goes beyond traditional aid, focusing on fostering long-term independence and resilience in Ethiopia and the broader region.