U.N. health agency has appointed a new special representative to Tajikistan, replacing Ms. Bakhtygul Karryyeva, who reportedly contracted the novel coronavirus (COVID-15) in late November after visiting the Tajik northern Sughd province.
According to our sources, acting representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Tajikistan, Ms. Bakhtygul Karryyeva, contracted COVID -19 in November after a visit to Sughd province.
After a short treatment at home and at the Dushanbe infectious diseases hospital, Ms. Karryyeva was reportedly evacuated from the country.
The WHO Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe) has confirmed this information. “Unfortunately, this is true. Acting representative of WHO in Tajikistan, Ms. Bakhtygul Karryyeva, got sick with the novel coronavirus last month. Due to the existing chronic diseases, she was in a risk group,” representative of WHO/Europe noted.
In late December last year, Dr. Victor Olsavski, who had previously served as Head of the WHO Country Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was competitively selected to head the WHO Country Office in Tajikistan. He is expected to start work in Tajikistan soon.
Recall, WHO appointed Ms. Bakhtygul Karryyeva, who had previously worked at the Office of WHO Regional Director for Europe, acting head of the WHO permanent mission in Tajikistan in May last year.
On October 20, 2020, a cooperation agreement for the next two years was signed in Dushanbe between the Government of Tajikistan, represented by Jamoliddin Abdullozoda, Minister of Health and Social Protection of the Population, and the World Health Organization, represented by Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
The WHO Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe) is one of WHO’s six regional offices around the world. It serves the WHO European Region, which comprises 53 countries, covering a vast geographical region from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans.
The WHO Country Office in Tajikistan was established in Dushanbe in 1992 to provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Health in strengthening of the public health system in the country. The Office is the focal point for WHO activities in Tajikistan. The country team consists of 24 staff members, including 12 experts in the fields of health policy and financing, immunization and surveillance, epidemiology, communicable diseases, disaster preparedness and response, family and community health, nutrition, food safety and food security, mental health and environment and health.
