A1 Plus | 16:25:27 | 17-03-2004 | Official |

LABORATORY TO THE MINISTRY

At the first meeting of the Armenian National Intersectorial Coordinating
Board of National Health Programs, Mr. Peter Krakolinig, Head of the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Armenia, announced that
the National TB Reference Laboratory (NRL) had been handed over from the
ICRC to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Under the terms of the agreement – which came into force on March 4, 2004 –
the building, equipment and all consumable materials that had been supplied
by the ICRC during the previous 2-year period, were donated to the MoH.

The NRL, located within the premises of the Abovyan State Anti-Tuberculosis
Dispensary of the Ministry of Health, was built in 2001 with the funding and
technical assistance provided by the ICRC. It has been fully operational
since March 2002 and serves both civilian and detained TB patients.

The ICRC will continue to support the activities of the NRL by organizing
extensive training programs for staff members with the aim of strengthening
the laboratory’s capacity for all diagnostic procedures related to
tuberculosis.

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