Těchonín Biodefense Centre remains unfinished after 10 years of construction, cost CZK 2,900 million so far
PRESS RELEASE on Audit No. 14/41 – September 14, 2015
The Supreme Audit Office (SAO) scrutinized the Ministry of Defence and the State budget funds, which were utilized from 2002 to 2014 to ensure the national biological defence. A calculation was made by the SAO auditors, according to which the Ministry has spent for construction and operation of the new Těchonín Biodefense Centre CZK 2,900 million so far. Out of this amounts, auditors scrutinized more than CZK 274 million in details. The specialized healthcare military facility in Těchonín that represents one of the main features of the national biological defence has not been finished yet, which threatens the discharge of national commitments pursuant to agreements with the NATO.
Following the September 11 attacks, the biological defence has become a national priority. The Czech Republic (CR) made a commitment to support its developing at the NATO Summit Meeting in 2002. The CR should have partially fulfilled the commitments by construction of a specialized hospital for treatment of infection diseases, which is an essential part of the new Těchonín Biodefense Centre. Already in 2007, the Ministry of Defence declared that the (then built) part of the Centre had fulfilled one of national commitments to the NATO in the field of biological defence. But the specialized hospital began its operations as late as two years later. The whole Centre, including scientific laboratories and special garages, has not been finished yet, in spite it should have been completed in 2005 according to the original building plans.
The SAO auditors warn that the Biodefense Centre in Těchonín is not able to undertake the full range of tasks required and cannot fully meet all national obligations to the Alliance. In spite the Government adopted the White Paper on Defence in 2011, which stated that the Biodefense Centre in Těchonín should find its optimal ways of operation or cease its operation within one year, the Ministry has not yet determined the future of the facility.
The operation possibilities of the Biodefense Centre in Těchonín have also been limited by lack of qualified staff. From 2010 to 2013, the Ministry of Defence decided to progressively reduce the staff by half, while the scope of operations remained the same. By the end of the SAO auditing operation, uninterrupted services of the isolation and hospitalisation rooms have not been ensured at the Biodefense Centre in Těchonín and it was still not possible to diagnose highly contagious diseases without external assistance. When introducing quarantine measures with serving members of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic (ACR) who had returned from epidemiologically risk areas, it was necessary to call for experts from other ACR structures and external specialists.
The SAO recommends that key departments of the Biodefense Centre in Těchonín are completed. Funds for the Centre’s continuing operation as well as for the further renewing of technologies and equipment should also be ensured so that the Czech Republic holds its leading position in the NATO within these particular disciplines and can meet the Alliance commitments to a full extent. The Ministry of Defence should provide enough qualified staff members so that the Centre can function without undue constraints. Rescue and emergency integrated system structures should also make optimum use of the Centre. In order to maintain the long-term sustainability and development of the Centre, it is necessary to include the Centre into the systems of public health care and specialized scientific units.
Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office