Launching a collaboration with the Public Health Center of the Ukraine Ministry of Health
January 17 2023
Ginkgo Biosecurity and the Public Health Center of the Ukraine Ministry of Health today announced a new collaboration to conduct a wastewater testing pilot program in Ukraine with the intent to help provide early warning for infectious disease outbreaks and enable rapid and strategic public health intervention.
Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the strain on health infrastructure in Ukraine due to the war, the risk of infectious diseases spreading in the country has increased. Through this partnership, Ginkgo is building upon the large-scale pathogen monitoring platform, to implement a nimble, on-the-ground biosecurity program for monitoring of biological threats found in critical wastewater systems. The program can be utilized to address biosecurity gaps during acute moments of crisis, where public health infrastructure has been affected by adverse circumstances.
This pilot program is aimed at providing the Ukraine Ministry of Health and other public health authorities with continuous data on pathogens like SARS-CoV-2 and influenza in order to inform decisions to help reduce the infectious disease burden on the Ukrainian population and healthcare infrastructure. In preparation for launching the planned pilot this winter, Ginkgo will coordinate with a Ukraine-based partner to design and manage program operations in selected urban centers.
