The Government of Switzerland through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) purchased the medical equipment for the emergency departments of hospitals, basic equipment and cars for the family medicine centers for the total amount of 800’000 CHF within the project “Health Facilities Autonomy” supported by the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic.

“It is so important that our contribution within our health projects gets the strong support of local authorities and personnel of the health facilities. I am very impressed by the level of commitment of all stakeholders, in particular the family doctors, the nurses and the management of the health facilities and also by the support of local authorities” – said Véronique Hulmann, Ambassador of Switzerland to the Kyrgyz Republic.

The “Health Facilities Autonomy” project is a contribution to the national programme "Den Sooluk" which has been implemented since 2015.  The project aims to improve access of rural population to medical services and to enhance the effectiveness and quality of health care services by increasing the autonomy of health care organizations and optimizing referral systems. The project implements activities for efficient use of infrastructure, financial, personnel and logistical resources. During this trip, the Swiss Ambassador also inaugurated laundry facilities of four hospitals. This is part of another project on infection control.

Around 50 doctors and 250 nurses provide medical care to more than 190 thousand people in these three rayons. The new medical equipment will improve efficiency and quality of medical care for the local population as well as access to medical services.

The medical clinic was opened by the Osh State University with support of the Swiss side in the frame of the project “Reform of medical education” in Kyrgyzstan - the University funded USD 50’000 and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation sponsored CHF 35’000 including technical support and expertise.

The center will provide opportunities for medical students to gain more clinical skills during their education at the university. It has such departments as “pediatrics”, “therapy”, “surgery”, “obstetrics” and “gynecology” “maternity department”, “reanimation”. The clinical center contains simulation and medical equipment, mannequins of the human parts where students will know about disease symptoms and learn how to treat them.

“Today, the new curriculum on general practitioner specialty is being implemented at the Kyrgyz State Medical Academy and first graduates are expected in June 2018. In September 2016 the Osh State University has started teaching medicine based on new curricula”, said the Ambassador of Switzerland to the Kyrgyz Republic, René Holenstein. “This clinical skills center is one of the new learning tools for the medical students created to improve clinical skills and to become experienced doctors in future to save lives of the population”.