Over 4 tonnes of medical supplies delivered to Kyrgyzstan to strengthen COVID-19 response and save lives

Supplies will be distributed to national medical organizations in the country in line with priorities and needs. All these materials meet WHO quality and safety standards to keep frontline health care workers and patients safe and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

During the handover ceremony, Alymkadyr Beishenaliev Minister of Health expressed his gratitude to the UN representatives and British ambassador for supporting and strengthening response against COVID-19 in the country.

The British Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Charles Garrett, noted that the pandemic demonstrated that cooperation between the UK and Kyrgyzstan is flexible and multilateral. "We are pleased with our effective cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Kyrgyz Republic and other national partners involved in the response to COVID-19. I would also like to note that Kyrgyzstan, as a member of the COVAX Mechanism under the Gavi Alliance, will be able to receive more than half a million doses of vaccines developed by the University of Oxford together with the British-Swedish pharmaceutical Company AstraZeneca. Moreover, a scientist from Kyrgyzstan, Asel Sartbaeva, has made a huge contribution to the development of vaccine data storage. In my opinion, this is a good British-Kyrgyz collaboration, " Charles Garrett concluded.

The UN Resident Coordinator in Kyrgyzstan Ozonnia Ojielo and Nazira Artykova, WHO Representative to Kyrgyzstan, emphasized that UN remains a committed partner for Kyrgyzstan supporting governmental efforts to strengthen preparedness and response for COVID-19 and beyond.

The cargo was shipped from the WHO regional logistics hub in Dubai, with the cost of more than 260,000 USD.