LocationsUNDP, KOICA and Soros Foundation expand the general public health service through 118 hotline
May 21, 2022
Hotline 118 equipment hand over ceremony at Ministry of Health
Bishkek, 9 June 2022 – Today United Nations Development Programme, Korean International Cooperation Agency, Soros Foundation-Kyrgyzstan handed over new equipment to Hotline 118 for a total of 1.9 million soms to improve the quality of work and geographical expansion throughout the country. Now, the service, which has provided assistance to hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyzstanis during the COVID -19 pandemic, will operate in all regions of the country and provide first medical advice by phone.
The acting Minister of Health Zharkynbek Kasymbekov noted: “We must always be ready for any challenge. Hotline 118 will continue to expand and develop in order to provide timely assistance for the benefit of the population.”
Hotline 118 equipment hand over ceremony at Ministry of Health
In turn, Vice Mayor of Bishkek Victoria Mozgacheva added: “Hotline 118 will operate on the basis of our family medicine centers and provide assistance by phone, making significant contribution to the health care system by reducing the burden on family doctors and ambulances.”
“We aim to improve access to high-qulity information on COVID-19 for the general publc in safe and effective manner. The 118 hotline serves as a tool to combat not only COVID-19 but also other types of diseases that the general public seasonally might face, especially in vulnerable times and reaching the most vulnerable layers of population,”Erkinbek Kasybekov, UNDP Assistant Resident Representative
- As Kiyoun Kim, Programme Coordinator of KOICA Office in the Kyrgyz Republic mentions: “KOICA has expanded our support for the partnering organizations to share Korea’s experience of responding to COVID-19 through various initiatives. Indeed, we are grateful to be a part of this partnership hope our effort could tackle the inequalities deepened by the pandemic and support the vulnerable groups in the Kyrgyz Republic”.
- “For the allocated financial assistance by our partners from UNDP and KOICA, we held a tender among suppliers and found the best conditions, which resulted in significant money savings,” says Shamil Ibragimov, Director of Soros Foundation–Kyrgyzstan, “thus, we were able to purchase 6 additional sets of equipment, which will allow us to work in all 7 regions of the country, as well as in Bishkek.”
