With the financial support from the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), through the "Building a System on Integrated Primary Health Care in Tajikistan (BaSIC)" project, horses have been delivered to Arghonak and Qadahi health care centres in the district of Khovaling to improve access to health services in rural areas.
Staff at these health centers, who working in remote areas, can now use these horses to travel through rugged, roadless areas. It should be noted that the Arghonak and Qadahi health houses in Khavaling district serve more than 12 subordinate villages. In winter and spring, the roads in these villages are impassable and, in many cases, residents have to walk a considerable distance to Baljuvon District Hospital, which is 15 kilometers away.
As we know, 93 percent of the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan consists of mountains and only 7 percent is made up of plains. Mountains provide us with clean air, clean water, healthy food and minerals, but, on the other hand, difficult roads to remote villages make life even more difficult for people living in mountainous areas.
Considering that more than 70% of the country’s population lives in rural areas, it is necessary to further improve the quality of training of medical professionals in order to improve the rural population’s access to medical services. In line with the requests and needs of the beneficiaries, the project took into account the existing problems of the Arghonak and Qadahi health centres in Khovaling district and purchased two horses and two foals for the staff of these institutions.
The ceremony to hand over the horses was attended by a representative of the Hukumat of Khovaling district, representatives of the GIZ Health Programme in Tajikistan, representatives of health houses, representatives of the PHC of Khovaling district and other officials.
