While Tajikistan has made significant strides recovering from the collapse of the Soviet Union and ensuing civil war, challenges remain due to low financing, limited health sector management capacity, and lack of competencies on improving quality of care, according to the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).
The number of health workers has reportedly decreased significantly since independence, while limited health financing has stalled continuing medical education opportunities for in-service professionals, resulting in the use of outdated and ineffective clinical practices.
This is compounded by geographical imbalances in health care resources and financing, contributed to poor maternal, new-born, and child health outcomes in rural areas. The emergence of the novel coronavirus in early 2020 has stressed Tajikistan’s health system further.
The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) and Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) aim to enable individuals and communities to optimize their health and wellbeing to reach their full potential through an integrated range of interventions in communities, schools, facilities and health systems.
Over the past six years, 650,000 individuals have reportedly had access to improved primary healthcare services through the capacitation of over 1,000 doctors and nurses, and construction or rehabilitation and equipping of 292 primary healthcare facilities.
