The annual celebration of World Health Day on April 7 is a significant event for both the Turkmen people and all progressive mankind.
This year, on April 7, the World Health Organization celebrates:
75th Anniversary, founded on a collective initiative of the countries of the world in 1948 and aimed at promoting the health of people, maintaining security in the world and serving the interests of vulnerable groups so that everyone, wherever they are, has the opportunity to achieve the highest level health and well-being.
The seventy-fifth anniversary of WHO is an occasion to remember the successes that have improved the quality of people's lives over the past seven decades. This year, it is also an opportunity to give impetus to action to address the pressing health problems of today and tomorrow.
April 7, 2023 is held under the slogan "Health for all".
At the same time, it is necessary to emphasize the following priorities of the World Health Organization, which are reflected in the strengthening of the multilateral cooperation of Turkmenistan with the states of the world and leading international structures in the field of healthcare:
• Health for all means good health and a fulfilling life for everyone in a prosperous and sustainable world without war or conflict.
• The right to health is one of the fundamental human rights.
• Ensuring access to universal health coverage, financial protection and strengthening family and community well-being.
Turkmenistan has been a member of the World Health Organization since 1992. Over the course of 31 years of joint cooperation, huge successes have been achieved aimed at improving the health of the population of Turkmenistan.
The right to health is one of the fundamental human rights and means that everyone should have access to health care without experiencing financial hardship. This principle is one of the priorities of the state policy of Turkmenistan.
During the years of independence, guided by the State Program "Saglyk" of the Hero-Arkadag Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, a lot of work has been done to protect the health of the population, establish the principles of a healthy lifestyle, develop physical culture and mass sports. A network of modern medical institutions was created throughout the country – “Ene mähri” and emergency ambulance centers, multidisciplinary hospitals and sanatoriums, and pharmaceutical enterprises. All the necessary conditions have been created for improving the health of the population, preventing, diagnosing and treating diseases with modern innovative methods, increasing human life expectancy, and ensuring the availability of high-quality medical services.
Many years of positive experience of cooperation with the World Health Organization and UN agencies is evidence of the successful implementation of a number of significant joint projects and programs in various priority areas of national health, and the success and outstanding achievements of Turkmenistan in ensuring public health are marked by international certificates and certificates of recognition of the eradication of dracunculiasis, eradication of poliomyelitis, as well as international awards for universal salt iodization, elimination of malaria, for leadership in the fortification of flour with iron and folic acid, a document confirming the absence of measles and rubella in Turkmenistan.
WHO supports the position of Turkmenistan in addressing issues of maternal and child health by supporting the development of national strategies and action plans for child and adolescent health and reproductive health.
Over the years of joint cooperation, the WHO Regional Office for Europe has also supported the promotion of Turkmenistan's initiatives at the international level, twice electing Turkmenistan to the Standing Committee of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe.
WHO and Turkmenistan are successfully collaborating in the fight against TB to achieve a global end to the TB epidemic by 2035. Collaboration has been strengthened to combat antimicrobial resistance and strengthen the capacity of the public health laboratory service.
Within the framework of cooperation, surveillance of infectious diseases has been strengthened and preventive measures have been introduced to prevent their spread, examples of which are the National Concept for Integrated Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases, the National Immunization Program, and strengthening the routine immunization system.
With the support of WHO, various activities are being carried out aimed at maintaining the status of the country as a “territory free from the circulation of wild polioviruses”.
Joint initiatives agreed at a high level are being successfully implemented, namely, supporting the participation of Turkmenistan in a special program of the World Health Organization for the study of the coronavirus genome. Strengthened national capacity for genetic sequencing of viruses, including influenza and SARS-CoV-2. In February 2023, whole genome sequencing of 10 influenza virus samples was performed by National Laboratory Virologists and submitted to the Global Initiative to Share All Influenza Data (GISAID) platform. On July 4, 2022, a High-Level Sub-Regional Consultative Meeting was held in Ashgabat to promote the One Health concept for the countries of Central Asia.
In Turkmenistan, the fight against non-communicable diseases is one of the main priorities, closely linking them with the implementation of the 2030 Global Development Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. The Second WHO European High-Level Conference “Time to Keep the Promise – Meeting the Challenges of Combating Noncommunicable Diseases to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in Europe”, which was held in Ashgabat in 2019, pushed the implementation of the commitments made at the UN High-Level Meeting on Noncommunicable Diseases, and also measures to support countries in their implementation. In 2024, Turkmenistan plans to hold the third high-level conference on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases in honor of 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Ashgabat Declaration on Noncommunicable Diseases. This is also the political commitment of Turkmenistan to maintain and strengthen a healthy lifestyle through the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.
The effectiveness of national efforts and international partnerships in this direction was highly appreciated by all forum participants and, above all, by the World Health Organization and its Regional Office for Europe, with the presentation of a certificate of recognition by the World Health Organization for the country's outstanding contribution to the prevention of non-communicable diseases on behalf of the WHO Director-General, Mr.Tedros Ghebreyesus.
Adopted by the National Strategy "Healthy Mother - Healthy Child - Healthy Future", the National Program for Improving the Immunity of the Population in Turkmenistan, the National Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases for 2021-2025 and the National Program for Turning Turkmenistan into a Tobacco-Free Country for 2022 -2025 years have significantly optimized the activities of the health care system.
Particular importance is attached to the development of mass physical culture and sports, the Olympic movement, and relevant national programs are being successfully implemented aimed at improving primary health care, ensuring the provision of quality basic medical services, taking into account vulnerable groups of the population and based on the principles of justice, gender equality and respect for rights. human beings, promoting the health and well-being of all people at all ages.
A modern infrastructure has been formed in the healthcare system. Medical centers, specialized clinics, sanatoriums equipped with innovative technologies have been built in the capital and in all velayats of the country. On this basis, great success has been achieved in the formation of an advanced sports and recreation infrastructure that meets international standards.
The activities of the established charitable foundation to assist children in need of care named after Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov are aimed at addressing issues of protecting public health, in the field of motherhood and childhood. All this is evidence of a positive result in the modernization of the national healthcare system, improving the standard of living and well-being of every person - the highest value of the Turkmen society and state.
Most of the State budget is directed to financing the social sphere, including reforming the healthcare and education systems.
With the beginning of the development of a new type of coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and over the past years, Turkmenistan has received support from the WHO and UN agencies. Based on the guidelines of the WHO Strategic Plan for Preparedness and Response to COVID-19, the country approved and successfully implemented a joint Plan for Preparedness and Response of Turkmenistan for Acute Infectious Disease, focusing on the main areas of WHO COVID-19 activities related to prevention, treatment, diagnosis and vaccination of COVID-19.
The ongoing program changes and reforms are an effective incentive for the further development of the healthcare system and the medical industry of independent and neutral Turkmenistan and lay the foundation for further cooperation in the field of healthcare.
On World Health Day, Turkmenistan once again expresses its full support for the activities of the WHO, thanks the leadership and staff of the Organization for their selfless and professional work. Our country will continue to closely cooperate with the World Health Organization and is ready to continue to provide it with all possible assistance.
Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan
