ISLAMABAD:The National Institute of Health (NIH) has the requisite expertise and infrastructure to carry out whole genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2.
According to spokesman of Ministry of National Health Services on Friday, NIH has been using this capability to detect and report variants of concern for public health interventions since June 2020.
Additionally, with the assistance of the Government of Pakistan and development partners, the NIH was building a consortium of national institutions for genomic surveillance, he added.
In this regard, support of the UK Government under the New Variant Assessment Programme (NVAP), aimed at providing genomic surveillance capacity enhancement in several countries including Pakistan, was appreciated, he said.