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The Embassy of Switzerland in the Kyrgyz Republic has provided modern laundry equipment in the amount of more than CHF 780’000 (more than 55 million soms) to 30 regional and district hospitals in Kyrgyzstan.

 

The Embassy of Switzerland together with the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic has selected these regional hospitals most in need of modernization of laundries. New sets of modern laundry equipment: industrial washing, drying and ironing machines have been allocated within the framework of the Healthcare Waste Management project. The renovation and preparation of the laundry departments were done by hospitals from their own budgets.

Over the years the critical condition of laundries in the majority of hospitals in Kyrgyzstan (outdated equipment, premises and facilities) has contributed to the spread of hospital-acquired infections. Today the problem with prevalence of these infections has gained a global character. According to the World Health Organization, on average 7,6-10,1% of those who use services of hospitals are being infected. In Kyrgyzstan, according to the National Scientific and Practical Centre of Infection Control, hospital-acquired infections are revealed among 6.8% of postpartum women and 9% of newborns. The annual economic damage of hospital-acquired infections during surgical interventions made 23 million soms.

Since 2014 the Healthcare Waste Management project has been working to improve the quality of healthcare in medical facilities of Kyrgyzstan by introducing modern technologies for infection control in all hospitals. All the measures are aimed at decreasing the risk of infections in hospitals and improving safety of medical care.

The Swiss support for this project is foreseen until end of 2017.