Press Release

Health sector in Tajikistan receives boost with US$5.35 million OPEC Fund loan

20/2006 March 21, Vienna, Austria
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The OPEC Fund for International Development today signed a US$5.35 million loan agreement with the Republic of Tajikistan to help finance construction of a hospital in the Khatlon Region, some 130 km southeast from the capital Dushanbe. The project falls in line with government’s aim to improve the country’s health services and provide the population with comprehensive, affordable medical care.

Although Tajikistan’s government has been striving to bring its health sector up-to-date, significant disparities in coverage still exist. Many facilities are dilapidated, under-equipped and lack medication and supplies. These circumstances hold particularly true in the Khatlon Region, home to approximately 2.3 million people, representing around one-third of the country’s total population. The area is under-served and individuals often must undergo a lengthy waiting period just to receive basic medical services. Those requiring more specialized treatment are often referred to health care facilities in Dushanbe.

In order to alleviate this situation and improve the quality and availability of healthcare, the loan will help finance construction of a 150-bed general hospital, covering an area of 9,000 m², in the city of Dangara in the Khatlon Region. The facility will contain specialty departments such as pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology and internal medicine, as well as emergency and intensive care units. A full range of modern medical equipment will be supplied, and an initial stock of medication provided for the hospital’s first year of operation. Training programs will be offered to locally-recruited medical specialists. In addition, a hospital sector reform component will develop regulations and bring organizational and administrative aspects of medical care in line with the regional regulations of Dangara’s Ministry of Health.

Tajikistan has been the recipient of six other OPEC Fund project loans in the health, education, energy and transportation sectors. The country has also been the recipient of a technical assistance grant in the area of water supply and sanitation.

Today’s agreement was signed in Vienna by HE Mr. Shavkad Sakhibov, Deputy Minister of Finance of the Republic of Tajikistan, and by HE Mr. Jamal Nasser Lootah, Chairman of the Governing Board of the OPEC Fund.