The Abt-led Local Health System Sustainability (LHHS) COVID-19 Response Activity in Uzbekistan played a key role in helping the country combat COVID-19. Launched at the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Activity supported a coordinated national emergency response led by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and helped build the resilience of the health system against future shocks.
Through the LHSS Activity, USAID provided more than $4 million in assistance to the Government of Uzbekistan. This included $2.22 million for:
- testing and diagnostics for COVID-19
- capacity building of healthcare workers
- strengthening epidemiological surveillance
- supply chain management
- intensive care case management of COVID-19 patients.
USAID provided an additional $2.23 million in supplies to support the COVID-19 emergency response. The supplies included rapid testing-PCR machines for COVID-19 testing that were critical in the early days of the pandemic.
Working with the Uzbekistan government, Abt also developed a COVID-19 case management distance learning program for health professionals. LHSS supported training for nearly 500 healthcare providers in intensive care case management of COVID-19 and on the appropriate use of ventilators and oxygen therapy. USAID will donate these resources to the MOH to enable more healthcare providers to benefit from this training.
“We are proud of the partnership between USAID and the Government of Uzbekistan that was forged in early 2020 to combat COVID-19, an unprecedented global pandemic,” USAID Uzbekistan Mission Director Mikaela Meredith said at a capstone event to highlight LHSS’s achievements. “I would like to give credit to the Government of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Health for their vision, dedication, and hardworking staff to lead the country’s response to mitigate COVID-19 in Uzbekistan.”
More than 100 guests, including representatives from the MOH, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, national counterparts, and the donor community attended the virtual event.
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