November 12, 2020, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan —The United States through its Agency for International Development (USAID) in Kazakhstan, announced the procurement of essential laboratory equipment and supplies to support the Government of Kazakhstan’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The supplies were provided through USAID’s Local Health System Sustainability project. This second round of supplies is valued at $1,113,907 and will support both the COVID-19 emergency response in Kazakhstan and longer-term pandemic preparedness capabilities.

With this specialized laboratory equipment, the Ministry of Health will now have stronger diagnostic capacity for the rapid detection of COVID-19 and preparedness for future yet-unknown pandemics. In an epidemic, slowing and eventually stopping the spread of an infectious agent such as COVID-19 in a population depends on accurate diagnostic tests in a short amount of time. These items support the Government of Kazakhstan’s ability to expand accurate testing, as well as to detect, research and understand viral threats such as COVID-19. This round of support also included over 50,000 viral transport kits and Cepheid SARS-COV-2 detection cartridges to support ongoing efforts at rapid case detection.

In partnership with the Government of Kazakhstan, USAID has identified priority areas for support and will continue procuring essential laboratory supplies through USAID’s Local Health System Sustainability project. Additional laboratory supplies valued at over $700,000 are expected to arrive throughout November 2020 and additional purchases have already been made as USAID continues to support Kazakhstan’s National Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan.

The U.S. Government has provided more than $5.7 million to assist with the COVID-19 response in Kazakhstan. This assistance addresses the immediate epidemic prevention, detection, and response needs in Kazakhstan while building on existing health system resilience strategies.