This year, the Global Fund celebrates 20 years of fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria worldwide. In Kyrgyzstan, UNDP is the main recipient of the Global Fund grant and helps the country control TB and HIV together with public partners, NGOs and communities. For its 20^th anniversary, the Global Fund shares stories of its impact and its victories through objects.

Dilshat Haitov

“The saucepan illustrates the work I’m doing to help TB patients who have just been released from prison, as well as other patients from vulnerable groups. In the past, we always faced the same problem: patients wanted to get TB treatment, but they didn’t have anywhere to live. They wanted to go to the clinic to get their pills, but they didn’t have anywhere to spend the night. This year, thanks to an agreement with UNDP and the Global Fund, we were able to open a temporary housing center for patients with tuberculosis in difficult life situations. The two organizations cover the rent and bought us all the furniture and appliances, including the new saucepan. Here, clients can cook for themselves three times a day. We provide them with everything they need, from toothbrushes to clean sheets. They can just come in with the clothes they are wearing and nothing else. Thanks to this center, people who don’t have anywhere to live can come for treatment, as well as for medical, social and psychological consultations. Some come in just to have a meal or wash their clothes.

If it wasn’t for the support of the Global Fund and UNDP, we wouldn’t have these kinds of shelters in Kyrgyzstan.”

Baktygul Almerekova

 “When I see a pill box, I immediately remember the early 2000s, when our country had a shortage of anti-tuberculosis drugs. There were waiting lists for patients, and doctors had to choose who would get treatment and who would have to wait. These were very hard times for patients and doctors alike. It’s very difficult to choose who gets to live, and to determine someone’s fate. All of this, thank God, is now in the past.

With the Global Fund, the problems with shortages of TB drugs disappeared. The Global Fund helps our country purchase all the necessary drugs for treating tuberculosis, so we don’t have to leave anyone behind. I am proud to be working for a life-saving project that makes sure that doctors no longer have to choose between patients.”

Ekaterina Zabolotneva

“Today, when we were distributing syringes to outreach workers, a syringe fell to the floor. An ordinary medical syringe. I was about to throw it into a box when, for some reason, I remembered when I had seen such syringes for the first time back in 2001. I was on drugs then, and none of us really thought about syringes. There was an old disposable one in the kitchen, and that was enough for us.

There were three of us. We all knew each other, and we thought we were probably HIV-negative. I didn’t have the strength to go to a pharmacy to buy new syringes, nor did I have any extra coins. I had lost my job and we had sold everything valuable in our house. We started having problems with our health and with the police. I was 25 and falling apart.

Then a friend called and offered to bring free syringes in exchange for old ones. I was intrigued and accepted. She brought the syringes and provided me with information about HIV prevention and the Global Fund. And then she gave me hope, hope that I was no longer expecting. She told me about methadone substation therapy. This changed my life.

The road to rehabilitation was long and bumpy. I slowly learned to live a normal and healthy life. In 2008, I became an outreach worker for “RANS plus” to help people just like me. Then I studied, worked and studied again, became a consultant and later a project coordinator.

I learned to cope with any problems, to care for my body, my brain and my soul, and to help others. I received help from various organizations, psychologists, doctors, lawyers, consultants and many more wonderful people – always with the support and financing of the Global Fund.

I can literally say that the Global Fund saved me. I am so grateful to the Global Fund and UNDP, and I am sure that the 4,000 drug addicts we now work with in Bishkek are as well.”

Dinara Duishenova

“The first time I learned about the Global Fund was in 2009, when our country was preparing its first proposal for a Global Fund grant. That was also the first time I heard about methadone and opioid substitution therapy programs.

Seven year later, I started supervising a program for opioid substitution therapy as part of a joint UNDP/Global Fund project. I’ve been able to witness the positive effects on clients’ lives first-hand, and seen how many of them have been able to go back to a normal life.

One of the people I remember most clearly is Islam, who joined the program in 2007. He has become one of the most active promoters of opioid substitution therapy in Kyrgyzstan, and his life has completely transformed.

Islam was able to get off drugs, find a job, get married and found a family, and he is a wonderful father. He uses his experience to help others by working as a peer consultant at the Republican Narcology Center.

I’m proud to be the part of the “global” team of the Global Fund and to make my small personal contribution to promoting the Global Fund’s mission in Kyrgyzstan. And I am proud to know people like Islam, who are living proof that our programs work.”

Umai Sultanova

“In my job as an outreach worker, I help sex workers to get tested for HIV and give them information in an accessible and understandable language. This can help prevent HIV infection in the future.

While we’re doing the test, I tell them about prevention and why it’s important to start antiretroviral treatment on time if the result is positive.

In my view, consultations and express testing are two of the most important parts of my work, and of HIV control programs in general. I always try my best to protect, reassure and inform our clients.

I’m proud to be part of the Global Fund team and to help others stay healthy.”

Gulnara Samieva

“I’ve been working as a TB doctor in the city of Osh, Kyrgyzstan, for more than two decades. A couple of years ago, we had computers installed in our offices.

With the new computers, which were financed through a joint UNDP and Global Fund project, we can access an electronic database to register all information about our patients. Now we get the lab results for each patient by email as soon as they are ready.

Our organization could not afford to buy computers for all doctors. Thanks to the Global Fund, we now have access to all the patient information we need in just one click.”

Maria Lichanyu

“The tablet has become an essential part of my work as a street lawyer. In this job, which is part of a UNDP/Global Fund project, I help people with HIV, as well as other vulnerable groups, to defend their rights.

An important part of my work is to register human rights violations. Before I had my tablet, I had to go back to the office and be connected to the Internet to do this. Now I and other public defenders no longer have this problem.

We can now work on the ground, which significantly facilitates our work. And most importantly, clients don’t have to face the obstacles linked with coming to our office to get the legal assistance they need.

On a personal level, this job has helped me find my calling. Working as a street lawyer has encouraged me to enroll at a Faculty of Law to obtain a degree in civil rights protection.”

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Read more stories from the Global Fund: https://www.flickr.com/photos/theglobalfund/sets/72157719522478130/

Read more about the Global Fund’s 20^th anniversary: https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/20-years-of-impact/

Read more about the UNDP / Global Fund project: https://www.kg.undp.org/content/kyrgyzstan/en/home/projects/effective-tb-and-hiv-control-project-in-the-kyrgyzstan.html