Public Health: National Health Laboratory Project Launched

National Health Laboratory Project was launched in Yangon, which will strengthen the country’s capacity to investigate any kind of disease and control emerging threats to the public health.

The project will be jointly implemented by French Development Agency, European Union and the Ministry of Health and Sports.

It will be implemented over a five-year period, starting in 2019, and is funded through a EUR 22 million soft loan from AFD, in charge of implementing bilateral aid from the French Government, and a EUR 5 million grant from the European Union.

The concessional loan granted by AFD will be used to construct and rehabilitate the buildings of the NHL in Yangon and Mandalay. This includes a brand new 3,000 square meter building that will house a Biosafety Level 3 (BSL3) high security laboratory, the first of its kind in Myanmar. The project is the result of more than 6 years of fruitful collaboration between the Institut Pasteur, the Mérieux Foundation, the NHL, and the Ministry of Health and Sports. The new laboratories in Yangon, as well as the rehabilitated ones in Yangon and Mandalay, are expected to be fully operational in 2024.