The Swiss-funded project on the prevention of non-communicable diseases has awarded 52 schools of Osh, Jalal-Abad, and Batken regions with prizes within the healthcare competition “Be Responsible!”.
This competition is a countrywide action to cover the male population with primary health care services to prevent or early diagnose noncommunicable diseases. Schoolchildren had to bring male relatives over 18 years old to their local health facilities. In total more than 127,000 men have received a consultation.
Noncommunicable diseases are chronic, slowly progressing diseases. These include cardiovascular diseases, cancer, lung diseases, and diabetes. Every second man in Kyrgyzstan smokes, drinks alcohol, and/or is overweight and has high blood pressure. Men are at greater risk and statistics show that the rate of men going to health facilities is low, while mortality from noncommunicable diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases, is high.
According to the competition results, the Swiss project has awarded the following prizes to the schools:
The competition was timed to coincide with the "Be Responsible!" campaign, announced by the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic in February 2023 to identify risk factors of noncommunicable diseases among men. Special appointment hours for men were established, which helped to increase the availability of medical services.
The project “Effective Management and Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases in Kyrgyzstan”, financed by the Government of Switzerland, is aimed to improve the health and well-being of the Kyrgyz population in rural areas through equitable access to quality primary care services and promotion of healthier lifestyles. The first phase of the project covered Chui, Naryn, Talas and Issyk-Kul regions. Starting from July 2022 the project is implementing its activities in Osh, Jalal-Abad, and Batken regions as well as in Bishkek and Osh cities.
For more information, please visit https://ncdproject.kg/. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ncd.kyrgyzstan