Through existing community-based health promotion groups such as village and school health committees and government health structures, we provide information to over 3,500 people per year on hygiene, sanitation and nutrition, maternal and child health, care for child development (C4CD) and positive fatherhood in remote regions of Osh and Naryn oblasts.

Taking advantage of the increased level of Internet connectivity across the country, AKF also launched the mobile application Salamat in partnership with the Republican Health Promotion Center and Digital Health Center. Available in both the Russian and Kyrgyz languages, this application helps parents to keep their children healthy, schedule vaccinations, consultations and check-ups and participate in disease prevention activities.

AKF has also created and strengthened the capacity of government health and education facilities and institutions that offer services to young children and their families.

We have invested in human resources for child development, including those related to early learning, nutrition, health and responsive caregiving. So far, AKF has trained more than 330 C4CD counsellors who, in turn, have conducted sessions for more than 4,000 households comprising 5,740 caregivers and 6,760 children. The C4CD package has also been integrated into the course of the Kyrgyz State Medical Institute of Continuous Education, which supports the professional development of about 800 medical workers annually in three southern regions of the country.

Adolescent Health

In 2020, AKF, with the support of Global Affairs Canada, launched Foundation for Health. With a strong focus on adolescent health, this five-year initiative aims at strengthening the delivery of quality, gender-responsive and inclusive health services in three oblasts of the country by:

• improving the technical capacity of health professionals;


• enhancing local, provincial and national governments to design and lead in quality, gender-responsive and inclusive health policies and programming; and


• increasing the availability of quality gender-responsive materials and health infrastructure.

AKF is leveraging the potential of new technologies in order to improve access to quality health care in rural areas of the Kyrgyz Republic.

AKF has helped establish an eHealth connection between the National Maternal and Child Care Center and National Surgery Center (hub sites), and Naryn Oblast Merged Hospital, Naryn Oblast Family Medicine Center and At-Bashy District Hospital (spoke sites). This connection enables teleconsultations and e-learning sessions to improve service delivery for surgery, maternal and child health clients, and support staff capacity development. Over 500 teleconsultations have been held.

The programme strengthens existing health facilities by fostering the professional development of healthcare workers and improving access to medical service delivery.

To date, more than 600 health professionals from Naryn and Osh oblasts have been supported to undergo professional development training. Training venues have included Bishkek, the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at AKU and the Kazakh School of Public Health.

In 2016, AKHS launched its first family medicine and diagnostics centre in Naryn. It offers high-quality outpatient and diagnostic services to the communities in Naryn Oblast and adjoining areas, as well as to UCA faculty, staff and students.

The Centre was officially opened in May 2016, operating under a licence issued by the Kyrgyz Republic Health Ministry. This is the first such private not-for-profit centre to provide high-quality, reliable and affordable healthcare services, primarily focusing on diagnostics, family medicine and specialist outpatient services. As with AKHS facilities elsewhere, it also offers welfare for those who cannot afford the service.

The response so far has been encouraging and the centre launched microbiology services in 2017. In response to the need of the local communities, ENT and Neurology departments were opened in January 2021 and an adolescent medicine specialist joined the team in May 2021.