STORY: On visit to National Laboratory, UN envoy hails

benefits to COVID-19 response and Somalia's future

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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 29/JUNE/2020, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOT LIST:
1. Wide shot, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, James
Swan, arriving
2. Close up shot, National Public Health Reference Laboratory (NPHRL)
3. Med shot, laboratory technicians working on samples
4. Close up shot, sample
5. Close up shot, a laboratory technician
6. Close up shot, a laboratory technician testing a sample
7. Med shot, a laboratory technician testing a sample
8. Wide shot, the samples being taken processing
9. Wide shot, UN envoy James Swan and other officials inspecting the laboratory
10. Med shot, Director of NPHRL Dr. Sahra Isse Mohamed taking the UN envoy James
Swan on a guided tour of the facility
11. Close up shot, real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based testing machine
12. Med shot, laboratory technicians at work
13. Close up shot, UN envoy James Swan and other officials inspecting
14. Med shot, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based testing machine
15. SOUNDBITE: (English) UN envoy to Somalia, James Swan
“We are very impressed with what you have been able to accomplish here and we
are honoured to be your partners. We in the UN family have all learned how
important testing is for determining both the health of individual patients and more
broadly what’s happening with this Coronavirus pandemic. The work that you are
doing on testing here is absolutely critical to the COVID response.”

16. Close up shot, Polymerase Chain Reaction room

17. Med shot, laboratory technicians
18. Close up shot, a laboratory technician at work
19. Med shot, laboratory technicians working
20. Pan shot, laboratory
21. Med shot, a technician working on a sample
22. Close up shot, sample
23. Med shot, a laboratory technician
24. Close up shot, samples
25. SOUNDBITE: (English) UN envoy to Somalia, James Swan
“And as there are future diseases, as there are future medical or pandemic
requirements, you and your team at this laboratory will be able to respond. So we
really see this as both a short-term response – together, Somalis and the UN, and
other international partners – a short-term response on COVID, but a longer-term
investment and commitment to the future of this laboratory and the work you are
doing on behalf of the Somali people.”

26. Wide shot, a laboratory technician working

27. Med shot, laboratory technicians
28. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dr. Mamunur Rahman Malik, the World Health
Organisation Country Representative for Somalia
“On 9th of April, this laboratory became functional for testing COVID-19 samples.
Since that time, we have supported this laboratory to become operational and also
to test as many samples as possible because laboratories always play an important
role for not only detection but also play an important role for us to increase our
understanding on the way the virus is circulating and how we can monitor the virus
circulation in this country.”

29. Close up shot, samples

30. Med shot, a laboratory technician working on samples
31. Pan shot, NPHRL Director Dr. Sahra Isse Mohamed, taking the UN envoy on a
guided tour of the facility
32. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dr. Mamunur Rahman Malik, the World Health
Organization Country Representative for Somalia
“So the investment we have made on this lab is an investment for the future. This
laboratory will for years be able to detect any unknown and novel pathogens be it
respiratory in origin, be it viral, be bacterial in origin. Moving forward, we will also
make further investment on this lab so that this laboratory can be upgraded to
biosafety level 3.”

33. Pan shot, laboratory

34. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dr. Sahra Isse Mohamed, NPHRL Director
“We are really grateful for the help by WHO. We have been able to do COVID-19
testing here in Mogadishu. Before this, we used to send COVID samples to Nairobi,
KEMRI Lab, and now we have two PCRs here in Mogadishu, one PCR in Hargeisa and
one PCR in Garowe. Thanks to WHO that it procured this equipment very fast, during
the COVID pandemic.”

35. Med shot, World Health Organization officials

36. Wide shot, group photo

On visit to National Laboratory, UN envoy hails benefits to COVID-19 response and

Somalia's future

Mogadishu, 29 June 2020 – The progress made in testing COVID-19 samples at

Somalia’s primary reference laboratory has been hailed as critical to the Somali
response to the coronavirus pandemic by the United Nations envoy to the country –
and with an important role to play in its future.

“We are very impressed with what you have been able to accomplish here and we
are honoured to be your partners. The work that you are doing on testing here is
absolutely critical to the COVID response,” said the UN Secretary-General’s Special
Representative to Somalia, James Swan.

The top UN official was visiting Somalia’s National Public Health Reference
Laboratory (NPHRL), which has a leading role in the diagnostic testing that forms part
of the country’s response to the pandemic.

After undergoing training by international experts, NPHRL staff are now testing
COVID-19 samples on their own. The NPHRL started to test samples for COVID-19 in
April, and can now test up to 180 samples a day. The current testing capacity can
further be upgraded to 360 samples a day whenever needed. From 7 April to 23
June, the NPHRL has tested 6,572 samples for COVID-19.
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) donated a real-time Polymerase Chain
Reaction (PCR)-based testing machine to the NPHRL in order to immediately
capacitate it for testing COVID-19 samples. The laboratory was also rapidly upgraded
to an appropriate bio-safety level with the emergence of COVID-19 in Somalia.

Testing of COVID-19 samples by real-time PCR machines is regarded by WHO as the

‘gold standard.’

Other support

Other support provided to the national laboratory by WHO includes internal quality
assurance protocol and training online to ensure that standard laboratory quality
assurance measures are strictly followed. The UN health agency has also provided
enough testing kits and other items for testing samples until September 2020, and
has also provided various other supplies.

“On 9 April, this laboratory became functional for testing COVID-19 samples. Since
that time, we have supported this laboratory to become operational and also to test
as many samples as possible because laboratories always play an important role for
not only detection, but also play an important role for us to increase our
understanding on the way the virus is circulating and how we can monitor the virus
circulation in this country,” said the WHO Country Representative, Dr. Mamunur
Rahman Malik, who accompanied Mr. Swan during today’s visit.

“We are really grateful for the help by WHO. We have been able to do COVID-19
testing here in Mogadishu,” said the NPHRL Director, Dr. Sahra Isse Mohamed, who
showed the UN visitors around the laboratory. “Before this, we used to send COVID
samples to Nairobi, at KEMRI Lab, and now we have two PCRs here in Mogadishu,
one PCR in Hargeisa and one PCR in Garowe. Thanks to WHO which procured this
equipment very fast, during the COVID pandemic.”

The NPHRL is the only reference laboratory for testing of COVID-19 samples
collected from some of Somalia’s Federal Member States, notably Galmudug,
Hirshabelle, South West State and Jubaland. WHO has also supported the
establishment of two other real-time PCR-based laboratories in Garowe and
Hargeisa, and is providing similar types of support in the form of laboratory
equipment and consumable supplies.

Future prospects

During their visit, the officials from the world body also emphasized that the uses
and benefits of the three laboratories goes beyond the current response and into the
future.

“As there are future diseases, as there are future medical or pandemic requirements,
you and your team at this laboratory will be able to respond,” Mr. Swan said. “So we
really see this as both a short-term response – together, Somalis and the UN, and
other international partners – a short-term response on COVID, but a longer-term
investment and commitment to the future of this laboratory and the work you are
doing on behalf of the Somali people.”

“The investment we have made on this lab is an investment for the future,” added
Dr. Malik. “This laboratory will for years be able to detect any unknown and novel
pathogens be it respiratory in origin, be it viral, be it bacterial in origin.”

The WHO representative also noted that, at full capacity, the NPHRL has the
potential to become a reference facility for the East Africa region.

In addition to WHO, the UN World Food Programme (WFP), UN Support Office in

Somalia (UNSOS) and UN Development Programme (UNDP) have provided support
for the NPHRL, as have other international partners