Biosecurity Project in Ukraine

Background

The current confrontation with Russia and the resulting destruction of infrastructure has forced millions of Ukrainians to flee their homes and cut off hundreds of thousands from water, food and electricity. A steadily deteriorating humanitarian situation inevitably leads to outbreaks of endemic, highly infectious diseases. These often have serious consequences for the population, economy, social cohesion and political stability of a country or region, and thus pose a serious security risk. For this reason, it is essential to develop Ukraine's own biological reconnaissance capabilities. This will enable a rapid and reliable response to biological threats.

Objectives

To strengthen biosecurity capacities and ensure sustainable knowledge transfer in Ukraine, as well as to stabilise the health situation of the Ukrainian population, the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit have been implementing a cooperation project in Ukraine since 2016 as part of the German Biosecurity Programme.
In addition, the German Enable & Enhance Initiative plans to rebuild destroyed laboratory infrastructure in Kyiv and Kharkiv.

Measures

The central partner institutions for implementing the project objectives in 2023 are the Public Health Centre of Ukraine (PHCU) in Kyiv as well as the One Health Institute, the Institute of Monocrystals and the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in Kharkiv,.
The biosecurity project will focus on

• Training specialists in the diagnosis of high-consequence pathogens
• Strengthening specialist staff in the application of international laboratory standards
• Studies on the occurrence of high-consequence pathogens in Ukraine
• Establishment of a German-Ukrainian network for zoonosis risk management
• Promotion of young scientists in Ukraine