The IssuesChildren and women are often in poor health due to their unfavourable social and economic situation, a decline in access to quality services, and a lack of human and financial resources. For every 1,000 children born alive in Kyrgyzstan, approximately 49 will not live to see their first birthday. This means around 18 infants die every day. Key causes of child mortality include complications during delivery, congenital anomalies and respiratory diseases.
A growing number of pregnant women, particularly in remote and hard-to-reach districts, do not come to maternity hospitals until they are actually in labour, leaving little or no time for HIV testing. If the women are HIV positive, there is a high risk that they will transmit HIV to their babies during childbirth. Few pregnant women undertake voluntary HIV counselling or testing. The “Manas” National Health Reform Programme has been under way since 1993, supported by the UNICEF, World Bank, USAID, DfID, the Swiss Cooperation Office and other donors. The reforms focus on restructuring hospitals and the Sanitary Epidemiological Services to strengthen primary health care and replace polyclinics with a network of family physicians at local level. They also include the establishment of mandatory health insurance, incentive-based payment systems, the development of a health information system and better pharmaceutical management. Though lack of investment is undermining the health structure, immunisation coverage rates among children under two years of age have been sustained at above 90 percent. With support from UNICEF and other partners in the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, Kyrgyzstan has eliminated polio and reduced the incidence of measles and rubella.
|
