PEPFAR  Ethiopia funds state-of-the-art renovation of Ethiopia’s National HIV/AIDS Reference Laboratory

November 9, 2006
No. 40/06

Addis Ababa (CDC-Ethiopia): Dr. Deborah L. Birx, Director of the Global AIDS Program at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with Dr. Tedros Adhanom, Minister of Health of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, presided over a ceremony to mark the completion of a state-of-the art renovation of Ethiopia’s National HIV/AIDS Reference Laboratory at the Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute (EHNRI). 

The state-of-the art laboratory was renovated, furnished, and equipped with various laboratory equipments at a cost of 28,909,969 million Birr through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). 

The 3-storey National HIV/AIDS Reference Laboratory is the national center of excellence in support of HIV/AIDS diagnosis, treatment, training, and research.  It is the lead facility in a national laboratory quality assurance system, and the site of operational research on HIV, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, and opportunistic infections.  The National HIV/AIDS Reference Laboratory also trains Ethiopian public health professionals in the use of existing and new diagnostic and programmatic tools.

Since 2002, PEPFAR has been providing financial and technical assistance to EHNRI to build national, regional, and facility-based laboratory capacity to support activities in the fight against HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, and tuberculosis.  The total amount provided to ENHRI though PEPFAR in this collaborative effort (including the renovation) is 17,252,000 Birr.

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