On November 10 in Moscow, as part of the International Forum for Collective Security, the head of the Russian Federation, Anna Popova, held a session "Indivisible biological security in the CSTO area. Leaders and representatives of authorized bodies and scientific organizations from the CSTO countries and the secretariat of the organization participated in the discussion.
The participants examined modern challenges in the field of biological security, paying special attention to the prospects for cooperation between the CSTO member states in the field of response to biological threats.
"Infections have no boundaries; they can be easily and effectively overcome, especially now that we as humanity have created every opportunity to overcome them very quickly, sometimes quickly. The maximum time is the flight time of a large passenger plane. There are ways to move infections even faster," Anna Popova said.
During the discussion, experts also touched on the issue of artificial biological threats related to the leakage of pathogenic biological agents from laboratories, biological operations, the use of synthetic biology and genetic engineering.
In order to deal with infectious threats, Rostov-on-Don, together with the relevant departments of the Association countries, have already created a unified system for the prevention and implementation of biological threat response measures in the CSTO area.
Mobile anti-epidemic laboratories created by Rospotrabendzor form the technological basis of the response system. Today, 23 mobile complexes are operating in all CSTO countries. The laboratories are equipped with Russian equipment, which allows them to work autonomously and conduct up to 1,000 studies a day directly at the infection centers.
A register of specialists with the skills and experience of operational work to fight infections was created, which can be sent anywhere in the region within 24 hours to prevent a sanitary-epidemiological emergency.