Good afternoon. Salamat syzdarby.
I would like to start by thanking the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, His Excellency Sadyr Japarov, for sponsoring this important gathering, which we hope will set the stage for increased investments in health over the coming months and years.
Special thanks also to the Minister of Health, His Excellency Alymkadyr Beishenaliev, for hosting this Investment Forum, a clear recognition by the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic of the vital importance of health for economic and social prosperity.
There’s a reason why we are here, in the heart of central Asia. While the rest of the WHO European Region is rapidly ageing, this region has a significant young and educated population, with roughly half of the people under the age of 30. This will – if the youth potential is maximized – give central Asia an edge in the decades ahead.
Meanwhile, economic growth remains solid. Gross domestic product overall is expected to increase by 4.1% this year, higher than any other part of the WHO European Region.
These 2 indicators – demographics and economics – provide central Asia with a unique opportunity to accelerate its development, invest in critical sectors including health, and, ultimately, improve the lives of millions of people across this beautiful, diverse region.
Health is both a recipient and a generator of economic prosperity and must therefore be given the strategic importance it deserves. This calls for a radical shift in our thinking – a move away from seeing health merely as a cost or a drain on national coffers, and towards seeing health as an investment in our collective futures.
Simply put, the health sector is an economic sector. It provides employment to a wide range of professions, not just doctors and nurses. It helps maintain or improve productivity by keeping the population healthy, fit and able to contribute to society.
It binds communities together by ensuring social cohesion and trust in institutions. It is at the forefront of technological innovation, piloting new digital tools that improve overall efficiency and patient health outcomes.
Central Asia is already doing great things in health, providing a solid base to build upon and intensifying investments that yield positive returns for society as a whole.
Here in Kyrgyzstan, the world’s first antimicrobial resistance (AMR) prevalence survey is being undertaken, including a focus on the economic burden of AMR to support future investment cases. This will be an important test case for other countries to follow.
Kazakhstan is a global pioneer in primary health care and remains at the forefront of innovation in telemedicine to bring services to the people, wherever they live.
Tajikistan is taking decisive action to tackle health workforce shortages, implementing a new national action plan to improve the education, recruitment, retention and distribution of health workers.
Turkmenistan has strengthened its health emergency preparedness measures, introducing genomic sequencing to swiftly detect influenza viruses and assess the effectiveness of influenza vaccines.
And Uzbekistan – where I have just taken part in the regional Stop TB conference – is committed to ending tuberculosis (TB) by 2030 and has begun implementing new oral TB treatment regimens that are shorter, safer, and have an impressive 82% success rate.
So, you see, the building blocks are already here.
Today and tomorrow, WHO is convening the Central Asia International Health Investment Forum, bringing together politicians and policy-makers from health and finance, investment partners, and development colleagues around a common objective.
That objective is to share concrete examples of investing in health in order to identify what actions are most needed and where they will have the greatest impact. Ultimately, as I have long said, health is a political choice – one that stretches beyond the health sector to encompass all of government.
What we need now more than ever are the political and financial commitments required to help meet the health-related Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 – just 6 years away. Later today, we will be signing an outcome statement that consolidates this national and regional commitment and lays out future steps.
The case for investing in health is clear and urgent. On behalf of WHO, I thank the governments and health stakeholders of central Asia for recognizing this, and for acting now to secure the future.
Rakhmat. Thank you.