The mobile laboratory will be used to collect and transport test samples from people suspected of having an infectious disease and will enable medical workers to reach vulnerable areas.

"The COVID-19 pandemic only confirmed that strengthening healthcare systems around the globe is critical. The mobile laboratory is ensuring the most vulnerable part of the population living in remote and cross-border areas have access to better medical services. This is one of the main objectives of the EU IGAD COVID-19 Response project," said UNOPS Senior Project Manager Rossella Monti.

The €60 million programme is helping to mitigate the health and socio-economic impact of COVID-19. Activities focus on health, water, sanitation, hygiene, risk communication and community engagement, gender-based violence and safe trade across 55 cross-border sites, migrant response centres and refugee centres in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda.

"Our EU-IGAD COVID-19 Response programme – and its support part to Uganda – is dedicated to strengthening the healthcare system in this region and mitigating the health and socio-economic impacts of COVID-19, which has so dramatically reshaped our world," said Deputy Ambassador of the European Union in Uganda Guillaume Chartrain.

Under the programme, ambulances, personal protective equipment and COVID-19 test kits were also procured and provided to the Ministry of Health while Arua and Moroto Regional Referral Hospitals both received PCR labs. Bibia Health Centre III was also reconstructed to support Uganda in the delivery of comprehensive primary health care services.