UNICEF and European Union handovers rehabilitated facilities of Tursunzoda central district hospital to the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Population of Tajikistan

Tursunzoda, 2 May 2023 - UNICEF in Tajikistan and the Delegation of the European Union to Tajikistan officially handed over the completed and rehabilitated facilities of Tursunzoda Central District Hospital to the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Population. The Rehabilitation of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WASH), and Health Care waste management facilities in the infectious diseases department of Tursunzoda Central District Hospital was conducted within the Health Development Programme in Tajikistan funded by the European Union. To support the delivery of quality health services, the rehabilitation project also provided essential laboratory equipment and medical supplies, which were delivered at the beginning of this year, enabling the facility to provide comprehensive healthcare services to the community.

The handover ceremony was attended by Mr. Amirzoda Abdukholiq Amir, Deputy Minister of Health and Social Protection Raimundas Karoblis, Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union, and Eri Dwivedi, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Tajikistan. The participants were given a tour of the rehabilitated areas, showcasing the significant upgrades and improvements that the hospital had undergone.

Tursunzoda Central District Hospital is a vital healthcare facility in Tajikistan that has recently undergone targeted improvements in areas such as WASH, and healthcare waste management infrastructure and was provided with life-saving health equipment. The rehabilitation focused on key areas of the hospital, including children's and adult departments, laundry areas, and outpatient toilets, to ensure that patients and staff have access to clean and safe facilities.

To improve the infrastructure of the facility, comprehensive rehabilitation activities were undertaken in Tursunzoda. This included the installation of a 15 cubic meter water tower, as well as various water-related equipment such as wash basins, steel sinks, bathing tubs, and water boilers/heaters. New toilets were also installed to provide necessary facilities within and outside of the hospital.  The rehabilitation entailed plastering and repainting of walls, tiling floors and walls where appropriate, and improving the ceilings of the building. To ensure that the water supply and sewerage functioned properly, new pipes were connected, pumps were installed, and waste disposal pits were constructed to manage healthcare waste. Outside of the facility, the installation of an incinerator was also completed, which was secured by a fenced wired structure.

Tursunzoda is one of the 15 healthcare facilities across the country that were rehabilitated in 2022 around WASH and were provided with life-saving medical equipment. The first batch of equipment for the targeted health facilities in 2022 (750 Primary health care facilities and 13 hospitals) was procured and distributed for the various departments as follows: maternity (8 districts), surgical (9 districts), pediatrics (9 districts), infectious diseases (6 districts), laboratory (25 districts) and primary health care facilities (14 districts).   With the successful handover of the newly rehabilitated facilities, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Population, the Delegation of the European Union, and UNICEF reaffirmed their commitment to improving the healthcare infrastructure and quality of care for the citizens of Tajikistan.

The opening of rehabilitated health care facility falls before the 5th of May, the World Hand Hygiene Day campaign aims to progress the goal of maintaining a global profile on the importance of hand hygiene in health care and to ‘bring people together’ in support of hand hygiene improvement globally allowing a better health and well-being for all people at all ages, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.

The Health Development Programme in Tajikistan is a project funded by the European Union to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The project runs from 2021 to 2025, with total funding of 52.2 million Euros. The World Health Organization (WHO), Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) are the three implementing organizations providing significant support to the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan. The project focuses on ensuring essential health services are available to all Tajiks without causing them financial hardship, which is a key objective of the new National Health Strategy up to 2030. UNICEF is working on the project's infection prevention and control component, specifically providing support to healthcare facilities.