Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — An Emergency Operations Centre for Public Health Emergencies has opened in Nukus with financial support from the US government and technical assistance from UNICEF, the US Embassy in Tashkent reported.
The centre is intended to coordinate health authorities’ responses to public health threats, including infectious disease outbreaks. Its responsibilities include incident management, activating response mechanisms, monitoring developments and sharing information among relevant institutions.
The project was implemented by the Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare and Public Health under the Global Health Security Programme.
A similar centre opened in Termez in April 2026. Together, the two facilities are expected to form part of a developing national network of regional emergency operations centres. At the opening ceremony in Nukus, UNICEF Representative in Uzbekistan Regina Maria Castillo spoke about plans to establish such a network across all 14 administrative regions of the country.
Heather Burns, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Uzbekistan, noted that the cross-border nature of epidemic threats makes international cooperation important for health security.
Botirjon Kurbonov, deputy chairman of the committee, said the priorities include early threat detection, coordination between national and regional institutions, and timely responses.
At the opening, participants were shown the centre’s coordination mechanisms, activation procedures and monitoring dashboard. They also discussed staff training, the development of standard operating procedures, regular preparedness exercises and cooperation between regional structures and national authorities.
Particular attention was paid to informing the public about risks and countering disinformation. UNICEF said the effectiveness of the future network would depend not only on infrastructure and equipment, but also on the quality of information sharing, trust within local communities and institutions’ ability to act in a coordinated manner.
Participants also discussed findings from a study visit to Türkiye in August 2026, organised to examine practices in public health emergency management.
