Armenia receives $3 million grant from EFSD to expand capacity to fight infectious diseases

YEREVAN, May 22. /ARKA/. Armenia is working to expand its capacity to control and combat infectious diseases with a $3 million grant from the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (EFSD).

Tamara Malsagova, the head of the grant arm of the EFSD, told reporters in the Armenian town of Artashat on Tuesday that the allocated funds will be used to renovate several branches of the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Artashat and Echmiadzin, as well as to build a new branch in the third largest city of Vanadzor.

"The reconstruction of the branch in Artashat is being finalized. It is in a high degree of readiness. In fact, these facilities were chosen consciously, their technical condition and equipment were assessed. And the Republic of Armenia simply offered this facility and the Armavir branch within the framework of our project, because they were in the worst condition," she said.

"Laboratories of such a level, rooms should be equipped with individual closed-circuit ventilation system so that the air does not get into the general ventilation system," she said.

Malsagova noted that new equipment will be installed, which will increase the volume and list of conducted research.

The EFSD portfolio in Armenia exceeds 10 projects worth more than $540 million, including an agreement signed on May 20, 2024 to provide the Republic of Armenia with $100 million in funding to support economic transformation.

The Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development is a regional financial mechanism worth over $9 billion that was established in 2009 by Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation and Tajikistan.

The objectives of the EFSD are to promote economic and financial stability in the Fund's member countries and to support their sustainable development. -0-