Strengthening Healthcare Capacity in Tajikistan and Protecting the Poorest During the Pandemic

In April 2020, Tajikistan was among the first countries to receive emergency support from the World Bank to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. A grant of $11.3 million was approved for the Tajikistan Emergency COVID-19 Project, to strengthen healthcare capacity, provide emergency cash assistance to poor households, and finance national and local communication activities to inform the public about measures to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Here are some of the results achieved so far through this project, in photos:

“We are grateful for the efforts of the Government and the World Bank in providing modern facilities for us. It has been three days after my father’s surgery. He is feeling better now,” says Mirzosharif Sobirov, a resident of the Varzob district.

Nyozmoh Mirzoeva, who is not employed due to a long term disability, said that the cash assistance helped her purchase food to feed her grandchildren. When the pandemic struck last year, 41% of households reported that they had been forced to reduce their consumption of food, while 20% of families indicated they were unable to obtain medical care. The pandemic slowed down Tajikistan's economic growth to its lowest since the global recession. Real GDP growth was 4.5% in 2020 compared to 6.8% in 2010-19.

Mahina’s husband is a construction worker, but he had been unable to work after many construction projects were suspended last spring. The cash assistance Mahina received allowed her to buy food and medication for her one-year-old daughter Sarvinoz, who was recovering from a recent surgery. “The assistance was very important and timely for us. My daughter has fully recovered and is healthy now,” says Sarvinoz’s mother.

“The renovation and equipment we received made the job of our doctors a lot easier,” said Khurshed Habibzoda, chief doctor of the Zarafshon Infectious Disease Hospital in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe.

$8.63 million in grant financing was approved for COVID-19 vaccines and $12.57 million in grant financing was allocated for investment in necessary infrastructure for the supply of oxygen in up to 15 hospitals across Tajikistan, including the 10 hospitals that have already received equipment and medical supplies through the original project approved in April 2020. This additional grant component will help severely ill COVID-19 patients and others to receive life-saving oxygen therapy. And one-time cash assistance will be provided to an additional 70,000 vulnerable households.

Over 65,000 people from poor households with children under the age of three received one-time cash assistance through the World Bank-financed project. In partnership with UNICEF, these families also received important information about good nutrition and parenting practices that help children stay healthy and grow to their full potential.

Mahina’s husband is a construction worker, but he had been unable to work after many construction projects were suspended last spring. The cash assistance Mahina received allowed her to buy food and medication for her one-year-old daughter Sarvinoz, who was recovering from a recent surgery. “The assistance was very important and timely for us. My daughter has fully recovered and is healthy now,” says Sarvinoz’s mother.

Given the importance of public outreach and communication for the prevention of the spread of COVID-19, the project invested in development and dissemination of informational materials about the coronavirus.

Parvina Mukhtorova—Head of the Republican Center for Healthy Lifestyle Formation, which is a partner under the project—said that, when the pandemic started, people lacked information about how to deal with COVID-19 or prevent getting infected. As she emphasized, it was essential to deliver informational materials and guidance on the virus to rural areas that are not as digitally integrated or connected, and therefore less likely to access information from the internet or TV.

Project investments contributed to strengthening the communications capacity of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and its public outreach and information, by providing equipment and technical support.

In February 2021, Tajikistan received additional financing from the World Bank to scale up activities under the existing COVID-19 response project:

$8.63 million in grant financing was approved for COVID-19 vaccines and $12.57 million in grant financing was allocated for investment in necessary infrastructure for the supply of oxygen in up to 15 hospitals across Tajikistan, including the 10 hospitals that have already received equipment and medical supplies through the original project approved in April 2020. This additional grant component will help severely ill COVID-19 patients and others to receive life-saving oxygen therapy. And one-time cash assistance will be provided to an additional 70,000 vulnerable households.