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As you know, on September 23, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, in his historic speech on the digital system at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, proposed a number of new approaches to solving various urgent global problems of our time, including the development of international cooperation in the field of healthcare.
Addressing the session participants, the head of Turkmenistan noted that the current state of global realities, the nature and trends of political, economic, and social processes objectively require closer and coordinated interaction between states and major international organizations in order to achieve a common main goal – to ensure peace and security on a global scale, conditions for further progressive development and progress, preservation of the legal and institutional foundations laid in the foundation of the modern world order.
As President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov emphasized, the degree of effectiveness of such interaction will be largely determined by whether a common denominator can be found between national interests and global goals and priorities, or the members of the world community will have enough responsibility, foresight, political will to overcome differences, tactical differences and differences in approaches and assessments, focus on achieving strategic, long-term development goals, solving the most acute global problems – environmental, energy, food, issues of equitable distribution of water resources, overcoming poverty, protection from natural disasters, countering terrorism, the drug threat, and other challenges.
This fully applies to the problem of combating a dangerous infection of new type and minimizing the socio-economic consequences caused by its spread, the leader of the nation continued, noting that the efforts of the world community in this direction are still insufficient.
Moreover, the pandemic has revealed serious systemic failures in the mechanisms of the international response to this challenge, the head of Turkmenistan said, expressing his conviction that only the unification of all member states and organizations of the UN system can provide conditions for success in the fight against a common threat. At the same time, there should be no place for politicizing the coronavirus problem, using it as an instrument of influence in interstate relations.
Highlighting that the World Health Organization is the main platform for a multilateral dialogue on developing consolidated, mutually agreed responses to common challenges in the field of global health, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov confirmed Turkmenistan’s readiness to continue promoting its previously expressed initiatives aimed at activating multilateral cooperation in the field of scientific diplomacy.
In this regard, a proposal was put forward during the 76th session to start studying the establishment of the following international and regional instruments: the Special Program of the World Health Organization for the Study of the Coronavirus Genome; the Multilateral Mechanism of the World Health Organization to Combat Pneumonia; the Methodological Center of the World Health Organization for the Treatment and Prevention of Acute Infections; the Central Asian Regional Center for Epidemiology, Virology and Bacteriology.
In the context of minimizing the negative economic consequences of the pandemic, it was noted that Turkmenistan considers it necessary to strengthen the activities of the UN in certain areas.
In particular, it was stated that it is ought to actively work on restoring and strengthening the stability of international transport systems in emergency situations. There is a good basis for it – the General Assembly resolution “Strengthening the links between all modes of transport to achieve stable and reliable international transport for sustainable development during and after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic”, adopted on the initiative of Turkmenistan on July 29, 2021.
Special attention to the comprehensive development of medicine is one of the most important priorities of the socially-oriented policy of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.
The comprehensive and long-term Saglyk State Program, developed under the leadership of the leader of the nation, marked a new approach to improving the national health care system, starting with the prevention of diseases and the promotion of healthy lifestyle values in society to the involvement of advanced innovative technologies and the establishment of broad international cooperation in this area.
The large-scale transformative program, approved in a new version in March of this year, provides for concrete practical steps aimed at forming a highly effective health care system, its further development in accordance with high international standards, and therefore – at steadily strengthening the health of the population and increasing its well-being in the epoch of power and happiness.
Actively implemented innovative technologies, advanced equipment from world-famous companies, an expanded network of specialized institutions, whose specialists undergo regular training in the leading medical centers of the planet – all this is designed to contribute to the improvement of the national health protection system and, as a result, increase the average life duration of the population.
Today, super-modern medical and scientific-clinical centers equipped with high-tech equipment from well-known world manufacturers have been built throughout the country, which actually have no analogues in the Central Asian region.
It is enough to name only a few important new facilities that have recently added to the structure of the capital’s healthcare institutions. These are the International Center for the Treatment of Diseases of the Head and Neck Organs, the International Center for the Treatment of Eye Diseases, the International Center for Neurology, the International Center for Endocrinology and Surgery, Oncological and Dental Centers.
The International Burn and Aesthetic Centers, which were put into operation in October last year, were recognized as the best in the region, which were bestowed prestigious international awards and certificates indicating their high technological equipment.
The high status level of new healthcare institutions dictates the need for a radically new approach to the training of professional personnel. And here, too, much attention is paid to international cooperation, which is one of the central vectors of the development of domestic healthcare.
Thus, in accordance with the instructions of the nation’s leader, a digital system is being actively introduced into the field of health protection. The latest telecommunications and computer technologies allow, regardless of the distance, to involve qualified foreign specialists, both for the provision of planned and emergency medical care, and for the exchange of experience in the field of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of various diseases.
Direct video conferencing is also actively used for holding regular online meetings and consultations. With the help of a teleconference, scientific and practical conferences and training seminars are held on a systematic basis.
In order to exchange experience and study the best diagnostic and therapeutic practices, a fruitful partnership has been established with experts and specialists from leading scientific and clinical centers in Germany, the Republic of Korea, Israel and many other countries.
Today, thousands of students are studying at the State Medical University named after Myrat Garryev. In 2011, it was conferred the International Award – “European Quality” from the European Business Assembly, international organization. In addition, TSMU is included in the World Database of Educational Medical Institutions – the Avicenna Catalog.
Simultaneously with the construction of new ones, large-scale works on the reconstruction of buildings and modernization of the material and technical base of existing healthcare institutions are continuing in the capital, as well as in the whole country.
Thus, in the foreseeable future, the International Medical Diagnostic Center, the International Center for Internal Diseases, the Ene Myahri International Center, which are part of the Directorate of International Medical Centers, will be completely updated.
In accordance with the instructions of the head of state, natural-climatic, mud-healing, balneological sanatoriums of the country are effectively involved, where all conditions for recreation and restoration of health are created.
There are also new objects of the pharmaceutical industry specialized in the production of popular medicines and medical products based on local raw materials.
A great help in this work is the multi-volume scientific and encyclopedic work of the President of Turkmenistan, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the country, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov “Medicinal plants of Turkmenistan”. Thanks to this invaluable book, the production of various collections and many types of medicinal teas from plants growing on the territory of our country, including endemic ones, has been established.
So, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the sacred independence of the Fatherland, the Saglyk Medical Enterprise of the Türkmendermansenagat Association has established the production of new products – licorice root tablets.
As you know, Turkmen malt differs from those growing in other places by its valuable characteristics, because the favorable climate of the fertile Turkmen land creates all the conditions for the plants to acquire many useful, healing properties.
Organic licorice root is rich in vitamin C and essential oils, so since ancient times it has been widely used to strengthen the immune system, for colds, kidney and urolithiasis. To date, the country has already established the production of syrup, capsules and medicinal tea from licorice root.
Taking into account the difficult situation that has developed in the world as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, great importance is attached to the implementation of preventive measures to prevent the penetration of this new type of infection into the country, which poses a serious threat to all mankind.
The joint struggle against the new challenge of our time, which has changed the usual way of life of people all over the planet, is a key topic for discussion at various high-level international meetings, including the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, held on September 17 this year in Dushanbe (Tajikistan).
As President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who was invited to the SCO summit as an honorary guest, underlined, Turkmenistan stands for the consolidation of efforts and systematic communication of the medical communities of friendly states.
In particular, it was stressed that our country is initiating the creation of a Special program of the World Health Organization to study the coronavirus genome, the WHO multilateral mechanism to combat pneumonia, the WHO Methodological Center for the Treatment and Prevention of Acute Infections, the Central Asian Regional Center for Epidemiology, Virology and Bacteriology, which, as already noted above, the leader of the nation later said in his speech at the current session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The Head of Turkmenistan expressed confidence that the support of these initiatives by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will contribute to their effective implementation in the interests of the whole world, thereby contributing to the establishment of adequate and systematic international mechanisms to combat dangerous infections in the long term.
At the recent third Consultative Meeting of the heads of Central Asian states, held in the Avaza National Tourist Zone, on the Caspian coast, the Turkmen leader also emphasized that the fight against the pandemic requires a systematic and professional approach to solving issues that directly affect the degree of risk reduction caused by COVID-19.
Thus, the national leader’s initiatives provide an opportunity to consider specific, effective forms of achieving the results of collective research activities in a number of important areas. Among them are cooperation in the field of studying the nature of the origin of the new coronavirus; activation of the work of the scientific medical community in the field of studying the forms of manifestation of diseases caused by a new type of infection; joint activities in the search for effective methods and means of treating particularly dangerous infectious diseases and their prevention.
It is not by chance that the improvement of the environmental situation in Central Asia was also included among the main issues of regional cooperation. First of all, we are talking about the fight against land degradation and desertification, the preservation of glaciers, the rational use of water resources and the salvation of the Aral Sea.
Today, Turkmenistan’s position of on the Aral problem is well known in the world. On June 22, 2012, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, speaking at the Rio+20 Summit on Sustainable Development, stressed that this problem “has now gone far beyond the region and has acquired a truly global character”. Therefore, it was proposed to create a Special UN Program for the Aral Sea basin.
In order to implement this proposal in practice, the world community represented by the UN, on the initiative of Turkmenistan, on April 12, 2018 and May 28, 2019, there were adopted two General Assembly resolutions “On cooperation between the United Nations and the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS)”, which created the basis for multilateral cooperation to solve this urgent problem at the UN site.
The Turkmen side has repeatedly stated that it does not exclude the impact of natural factors on the occurrence and spread of various kinds of dangerous diseases. In particular, air masses formed in the zone of ecological disaster caused by the drying up of the Aral Sea are of particular danger, which have an extremely negative impact on nature, climate, and the health of people living in the Aral Sea region and far beyond its borders.
It should be reminded that in November last year, the country’s President, who took part in the opening ceremony of a new infectious diseases hospital in the village of Yzgant of the Geokdepe etrap, ordered to build a new hospital in Ashgabat with a scientific and clinical center of physiology, whose activities will be aimed at the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases. This structure will also be entrusted with the study of the negative impact of the Aral Sea on human health.
Thus, environmental protection, maintenance of a favorable ecological background, greening of cities and villages of the country is also considered as a significant, integral part of the comprehensive work carried out to strengthen the health of the population, increase its immune status.
It is a matter of special pride that the positive experience of our country in the field of improving the healthcare system has been widely recognized by the world community and leading international organizations, including the UN and its specialized agencies – the World Health Organization, the UN Children’s Fund and others, with which Turkmenistan has been actively and fruitfully cooperating all the years of state independence.
The partnership is carried out in a wide range of areas, including prevention and control of infectious and non-communicable diseases, tobacco smoking, healthy nutrition, strengthening the health system, holding scientific and practical conferences and seminars on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, organizing meetings and round tables on topical issues of health protection, etc.
The established constructive dialogue with reputable organizations and foreign specialists allows Turkmen doctors to use effective methods of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of various diseases, which, in turn, contributed to the elimination of a number of dangerous infectious diseases, including dracunculosis, polio, malaria, measles and rubella, which is confirmed by relevant international certificates.
It should be recalled that Turkmenistan was the first among the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and Central Asia and the fourth in the world to receive official recognition as a country that provided universal salt iodization according to international standards. On behalf of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, a lot of work is being done to enrich the flour produced in the country with iron and folic acid, thanks to which our state has been awarded an international award for leadership in the fortification of flour.
The country has adopted a whole package of legislative acts, national and state programs in the field of health, which are regularly updated in accordance with the requirements of the time and the recommendations of the World Health Organization.
Thus, the new approaches of Turkmenistan to the development of international cooperation in the field of healthcare, announced by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, will make an important, weighty and concrete contribution to the consolidation of the efforts of the world community to find the most acceptable solutions to urgent problems of our time, optimize productive interaction for the sake of universal well-being and progress.
