On 31 January, Ethiopia was listed by World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the 13 top-risk countries in Africa for COVID-19. On 4 February, the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia (MoH) requested urgent support from CABC to procure and provide COVID-19 testing devices and kits. A task force was formed by CABC on the very same day. A portable molecular detector worth around USD 14,000 was donated jointly by CABC and its members including 500 sets of testing equipment donated by Sansure Biotech Inc., a member of the China-Africa Health Industry Alliance of CABC. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of partners, the turnaround time from request to the equipment being handed over to the MoH in Addis Ababa was as little as 72 hours.
CABC subsequently proceeded to coordinate with technical experts from Sansure to provide Ethiopian partners with online training on operating the devices. In-person training on operating devices was provided by professionals of the Chinese government’s medical aid team based in Ethiopia, through CABC’s coordination with the Chinese embassy in Ethiopia. Thanks to this successful mission, Ethiopia is now among the African countries capable of operating COVID-19 tests.
