原子能机构向100多个国家提供2019冠状病毒病检测设备
自2019冠状病毒病大流行开始以来，原子能机构已向118个国家提供了用于快速准确地检测引起2019冠状病毒病的冠状病毒的支持和设备，为防治和减少这种疾病传播的全球努力做出了贡献。
设备交付跨地区合作
正在通过2019年11月核准的原子能机构技术合作项目提供支持，该项目旨在便利原子能机构对成员国越来越多的援助请求作出响应，以应对（非洲埃博拉病毒病、亚洲禽流感、欧洲疙瘩皮肤病和拉丁美洲寨卡病毒病等）疾病暴发及（大地震和洪水等）毁灭性自然灾害的后果。
“这个项目旨在提供一个在紧急情况下向相关机构快速提供重要支持和设备的渠道。”原子能机构技术合作司战略和伙伴关系科科长Emma Webb说，“当时，没人想象到一场全球大流行即将到来，也没人想象到这个项目将如此有利于提供必要的援助。”
随着2019冠状病毒病的出现，这个项目成了原子能机构技术合作计划史上规模最大的项目，迄今调动了2570万欧元的预算外资金，以向世界各国提供完整的一揽子检测设备。这些一揽子设备包括实时RT-PCR仪器和试剂盒、试剂、实验室耗材等物项，以及用于确保对采集的样品进行安全操作、贮存和分析的生物安全用品，如个人防护设备和实验室保险柜。新设备和耗材正定期抵达医疗和兽医机构，还有其他实验室和诊断设施。
在原子能机构人体健康及粮食和农业计划的支助下，世界各地的国家实验室工作人员也正在通过在线网络研讨会和视频接受培训。原子能机构与联合国粮食及农业组织合作，正在向医疗和兽医实验室提供关于2019冠状病毒病检测信息的导则，包括按照世界卫生组织建议确定该病毒的标准作业程序。
Interregional cooperation for equipment delivery
Support is being provided through an IAEA technical cooperation project approved in November 2019, which was set up to facilitate the IAEA’s response to increasing requests by Member States for assistance in coping with outbreaks of disease (such as Ebola in Africa, Avian influenzas in Asia, lumpy skin disease in Europe, and Zika virus disease in Latin America), as well as the consequences of devastating natural disasters (such as major earthquakes and floods).
“The project was set up to provide a channel for the rapid delivery of essential support and equipment to relevant institutions in the event of an emergency,” said Emma Webb, Head of the Strategy and Partnership Unit in the IAEA Department of Technical Cooperation. “At the time, no one imagined that a global pandemic was around the corner, and that this project would be so well positioned to provide the necessary assistance.”
With the emergence of COVID-19, the project has become the largest in the history of the Agency’s technical cooperation programme, so far mobilizing €25.7 million in extrabudgetary funding to deliver complete packages of detection equipment to countries around the world. These packages include items such as real-time RT-PCR machines and kits, reagents, laboratory consumables, as well as biosafety supplies, such as personal protective equipment and laboratory cabinets, which are used to ensure the safe handling, storage and analysis of collected samples. New equipment and consumables are arriving at medical and veterinary institutions, as well as other laboratories and diagnostic facilities, on a regular basis.
National laboratory staff around the world are also receiving training with the support of the IAEA’s Programmes on Human Health and Food and Agriculture through online webinars and videos. The IAEA, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, is providing guidance on COVID-19 detection information to medical and veterinary laboratories, including standard operating procedures to identify the virus following WHO recommendations.