US renovates, inaugurates, Cameroon National Veterinary Laboratory, donates lab equipment

By Timfuchi Aaron

The United States , US government has renovated the National Veterinary Laboratory, LANAVET and donated new equipment to the facility. The renovation was funded by the United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency with an amount of 1.845 billion FCFA.

The renovated facility was inaugurated yesterday March 15 in Yaoundé. Presiding over the event was the Director of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Dr Robert Pope.

Simultaneously, the country representative of the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, Paul Richardson used the occasion to donate laboratory equipment and supplies worth 192million FCFA provided by USAID through the Emerging Pandemic Threats Program implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO.

Speaking during the ceremony, Dr Robert Pope appreciated the excellent coordination between the two United States agencies. Pope also thanked the Director General of LANAVET and staff for their hard work.

According to him,” building a cohesive laboratory network for Cameroon will improve national disease surveillance capacities across the country enabling early detection and quicker response to disease outbreaks”.

Present at the event were; the Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries, Dr. Taiga, the Resident, Representative of the FAO in Cameroon, Dr. Athman Mravili, and the Director General of LANAVET, Dr. Abel Wade.

Dr. Taiga expressed gratitude to the U.S. Government and declared that the Government of the Republic of Cameroon will continue working to prevent livestock diseases and zoonotic diseases for the well-being of the population.

This comes to reinforce the United States’ commitment to support Cameroon with its response to public health challenges and to rapidly detect, diagnose and surveil dangerous pathogens all geared towards saving lives.