PM Nikola Gruevski and ministers of health and education - Nikola Todorov and Pance Kralev - put into service on Sunday two new laboratories at the Institute of Occupational Health in Skopje.

The goal of the labs is to improve conditions for toxicological and ophthalmic testing, according to minister Kralev.

"With the help of these instruments, doctors in the future will be able to take active part in scientific researches and to get more precise results and better working conditions when it comes to examining the health of people," Kralev stated.

The labs will bolster the quality of health services provided in the Institute of Occupational Health, minister Todorov stressed.

"Heavy metals in the blood will be detected with the atomic absorption spectrophotometer, which has been procured for the first time in Macedonia. Thus far, such tests could have been done only abroad," Todorov said.

The two laboratories are estimated at 500 thousand euros. The Ministry of Education has inked agreements for procuring 85 laboratories, whereas 190 laboratories are expected to be procured across the country.