Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Director of the WHO Regional Office for Europe, Hans Kluge, with representatives of this organization, who was elected in September 2019 and began his service in February 2020, is in our country.

It is noteworthy that this is his first official visit abroad after being elected at the 69th session of the European Regional Committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Copenhagen (Denmark) in September 2019.

During a press briefing organized in honor of his arrival, it was said that Hans Kluge was in Uzbekistan 20 years ago, then he worked in the Republic of Karakalpakstan in the fight against tuberculosis. Therefore, he is familiar with our country and the reforms carried out here in the field of healthcare. H. Kluge also noted that Uzbekistan is one of the leading countries of Central Asia in the fight against noncommunicable diseases. This topic occupies an important place on the political agenda, and it is encouraging that Uzbekistan is taking new steps in this direction.

In turn, it is worth noting that the World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the UN, consisting of 194 Member States, whose main function lies in solving the international health problems of the world’s population.

The WHO Regional Office for Europe is one of six WHO regional offices located in different parts of the world. WHO / Europe serves the WHO European Region, which includes 53 countries (also Uzbekistan) and covers a vast territory - from the Atlantic to the Pacific. WHO / Europe is a team of scientific and technical specialists in various aspects of public health, based at the head office in Copenhagen, at 4 branch centers, as well as in country offices located in 29 states.

In Uzbekistan, there is also a WHO country office, whose role is to respond to requests from a given country regarding the provision of support in the development of policies aimed at sustainable health development, using a holistic approach to the health system. This includes providing overall leadership, building relationships at the local level for technical cooperation, setting standards and concluding agreements, and ensuring coordination and implementation of public health measures in times of crisis.

At the event, it was said that WHO and Uzbekistan are working closely on a wide range of important public health issues. It is worth noting the enormous expert support of WHO in the creation of the Concept for the Development of the Health System of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2019-2025, approved by the Decree of the President "On the state program for reforming the health system of the Republic of Uzbekistan." Thanks to the support of international experts, measures are being taken to improve health financing, introduce compulsory health insurance, an e-health system, promote a healthy lifestyle and a healthy diet, fight infectious and non-communicable diseases, bad habits and other areas.

In the next Address of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the Oliy Majlis on 24 January 2020, it was separately noted about the healthcare sector, in particular, the need to adopt legislation on compulsory health insurance in order to fundamentally reform the financing of the system, develop all organizational measures for its implementation, launch this year of this systems as an experiment in Syrdarya region.

As noted at the event, with the support of WHO experts, a joint pilot project on new models of medical services was launched in Syrdarya region. The project is already showing good results, and the state plans to gradually distribute it throughout the country.

It was also said that WHO and Uzbekistan are united in their commitment to achieving universal health coverage, which means ensuring that everyone receives the necessary medical services. To do this, a country needs a strong health care system and much stronger primary health care.

The project in Syrdarya region showed that this is an achievable goal. In primary health care, much attention is paid to addressing the issues of the health workforce, without which no health care reform can be implemented.

As part of the press briefing, a two-year cooperation agreement was signed between the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the WHO Regional Office for Europe for 2020-2021. This document provides a practical basis for collaboration and was developed through consistent consultations between national health authorities and the Secretariat of the WHO Regional Office for Europe.

The guest will be in several medical institutions and specialized scientific and practical medical centers of our country.