COVID-19: WHO coordinates large-scale response

operation in Tajikistan

09-06-2020
WHO
Arrival of the Polish EMT and WHO response team in Tajikistan

An aircraft carrying medical specialists from Poland, WHO experts and a tonne of medical
equipment landed in Dushanbe on 7 June, marking the beginning of a large-scale COVID-19
response operation in Tajikistan, involving emergency medical teams (EMTs) and mobile
laboratories coordinated by WHO/Europe.

“The Polish EMT’s COVID-19 experience acquired in virus-hit Italy, Poland and Kyrgyzstan is an
asset for any country, and bringing this team to Tajikistan demonstrates how international
cooperation can make a difference in protecting people from this disease,” said Dr Bahtygul
Karriyeva, ad interim Head of the WHO Country Office in Tajikistan. “We are thankful to the
government of Poland for making such a wealth of experience available to Tajikistan, in a spirit of
solidarity.”

For the next 3 weeks, 23 experts from the Polish EMT – comprising anaesthesiologists, infectious
disease specialists, nurses, paramedics and humanitarian aid experts – will work hand in hand with
their Tajik peers to share best practice on the treatment of severe cases of COVID-19 and on
preventing the spread of disease.

As part of the operation, WHO will mobilize medical and laboratory specialists from Germany, the
Russian Federation and the united Kingdom, who will be deployed to Tajikistan during the coming
weeks, upon request from the Tajik government.

“Emergency medical teams and rapid response mobile laboratories will support scaling up national
COVID-19 response capacities, including in the most remote areas of the country,” said Dr Oleg
Storozhenko, Partnerships Officer at WHO/Europe. “They will help to increase testing, improve
contact tracing and isolation measures, support triage and referral systems, and optimize patient
care.”

The EMTs and rapid response mobile laboratories will operate at health-care facilities across the
entire country, including its more remote areas. The experts deployed by WHO/Europe to Tajikistan
will work together with the WHO Country Office to support the Tajik government and international
partners to establish a Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, enhance the containment
strategy, and strengthen risk communication and community engagement.