The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation transfers a coronavirus testing analyser with test cartridges to the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine

The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation transferred a modern Convergys® PCRtist coronavirus testing analyser complete with test cartridges to the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

The analyser is meant to accurately detect the coronavirus in laboratory conditions. Convergys® PCRtist is fully automated and virtually 100% eliminates the influence of human error on the testing process and results. It also significantly reduces the research time and reduces the risk of any errors. It delivers the results of an PCR test in less than two hours!

"The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation continues to help the country face the threat of the COVID-19 epidemic. And as part of this support, the Foundation has already delivers this sample analyser to the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. It does the testing accurately and very quickly not only to detect the coronavirus but to diagnose a number of other diseases, including tuberculosis and hepatitis. We transported another analyser to Donetsk Region as they had no such equipment at all.  The research is now being conducted in Mariupol so there is no need to send the tests to Kyiv or Dnipro. The Foundation's testing analysers are only part of the system assistance that Rinat Akhmetov was the first to provide to Ukraine earlier in February. He financed 300 million UAH to combat the threat of the epidemic – the most required, modern and expensive equipment, including the analysers, has already been purchased and then delivered to Ukraine since February. And the regions have already received 300,000 rapid tests," Natalia Yemchenko, a member of the Supervisory Board of the Foundation, said.

She believes that transferring the analyser to the Heart Institute is a special event. After all, the Foundation and medical institution have been saving children's lives for many years as part of the "Rinat Akhmetov Supports Children. Good Heart" project.

"Hundreds of children who were diagnosed with cardiac failure had surgeries. We are deeply honoured," Natalia Yemchenko emphasized.

Simple functionality is among the advantages of Convergys® PCRtist because doctors do not need additional training - reading and understanding the instructions are sufficient. You do not need a large number of reagents to handle the device – all the necessary reagents and control materials are in one cartridge, which are included. The only important working condition is that the room where the analyser is placed should not contain any dust, and the humidity level should not exceed 85%.

Natalia Yemchenko personally presented the analyser certificate  to the Director of the Heart Institute, Borys Todurov. He claims that such advanced equipment is currently more important than ever before, and its role in saving people's lives has increased exponentially.

"We express our sincere gratitude to the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation. Our Congenital Heart Disease Children's Unit has been receiving support from the Foundation for many years – occluders, oxygenators. And this device is especially relevant, because we are not an infectious hospital, but we continue to receive urgent patients, and it is very important for us to detect possible diseases early on. In addition, this device can detect a lot of other dangerous viruses. Therefore, even when the coronavirus epidemic passes, it will be useful in transplantology for many years, which will quickly detect infections in the donor and the recipient," Borys Todurov said. 

According to Natalia Korotchuk, Head of the Institute's Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory, the analyser provided by the Foundation is compact and can be used in normal (non-laboratory) conditions.

"This is a closed-type system, and it is unique because it operates on cartridges that already contain special reagents and enzymes. Therefore, the device does not require to be applied in separate rooms.  Cartridges also reduce the risk of infection of medical personnel,"  Natalia Korotchuk explained.

She added that the analyser of this model allows you to get high-quality results shortly. 

 On 17 April, the Foundation delivered the QuantStudio™ 5 testing analyser complete with SARS-CoV-2 onestep RT-PCR,CE-IVD test system and Biosafety box E Series 120 cm, MSC-IIA-E120, Metisafe to the Mariupol department of the Donetsk Regional Laboratory Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

"Rinat Akhmetov financed 300 million UAH to combat COVID-19. To help Ukraine, he combined all the resources: the Charitable Foundation, FC Shakhtar, DTEK, Metinvest and other SCM assets.

The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation has purchased 300,000 rapid tests to be delivered to the entire country in order to detect the coronavirus. They have already been transferred to the Stabilization Foundation initiated by the President of Ukraine and received by the regions.

Back in February, Rinat Akhmetov gave directions to the Foundation to be the first in the country to respond to the global threat of the coronavirus epidemic. The equipment to effectively treat the complications caused by COVID-19 – the Swedish SERVO-I UNIVERSAL and SERVO AIR high-end ventilators and oxygen concentrators – has already been purchased and transferred to the Ministry of Health.

In particular, ventilators from the Foundation have been installed in the Poltava Regional Infectious Diseases Hospital, Rivne Central City Hospital and Zakarpattia Regional Hospital. These hospitals in Poltava and Rivne also have oxygen concentrators for ventilators installed. A separate concentrator from the Foundation was delivered to the Volyn Regional Infectious Diseases Hospital. The number of medical facilities that have already received equipment from the Foundation was determined by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

The Foundation also purchased personal protective equipment for Ukrainian doctors: EgoZlin biobag EBV – a unique insulating mobile box to transport infectious patients; EOBO-20 EgoZlin – a protective biological and anti-chemical suit with filter and ventilation set; anti-chemical disposable overalls; infrared thermometers with a laser pointer; multilayer respirators;  protective masks and goggles.  

Another 22 ventilators were installed in neonatal ambulances and transferred by the Foundation to all regions of the country as part of the “200 Ambulances for Ukraine” project. 

In partnership with the Ministry of Digital Development, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation created educational TV-series for teachers (“Quarantine: Online Services for Teachers”) and schoolchildren (“Digital Physical Education for Schoolchildren with Sport Stars”).  The video courses are posted on the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation's Facebook page and Youtube channel.

Furthermore, jointly with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health and the Association of Snesthesiologists of Ukraine ,the Foundation   presented a new video project "COVID-19: what you need to know about the operation of ventilators." It is intended to help specialists who will or are now using intensive care equipment save patients who have complications caused by the coronavirus infection and quickly find common ground with modern digital medical equipment. The series will be available on YouTube and social networks of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

Jointly with TRK Ukraina, the Foundation created social videos urging older people to comply with the rule of thumb during the quarantine – Stay at Home. The TRK Ukraina TV-presenters and the ambassadors of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation – Ihor Pupkov, Oleh Paniuta, Hryhorii Herman, Oleksii Sukhanov and the famous journalist Savik Shuster – engage in the videos hag tagged #ParentsATHOME.