The United States Chargé d'Affaires Leslie Hayden, Deputy Chairman of Bokhtar District Dilafrouz Mahmadaliyeva and Head of Health Department of Khatlon Province Saidullo Mallazoda yesterday opened the ceremony to deliver disposable medical supplies to 14 maternity hospitals in Khatlon Province.

According to the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, the delivery was possible through support of Feed the Future Tajikistan Health and Nutrition Project funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID).  These 14 maternity hospitals serve more than one million people. The supplies are needed to improve health care services for mothers and newborns and include disposable exam and surgical gloves, syringes, cotton balls, face masks, and infusion sets.

Specialists from the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population worked with Feed the Future Tajikistan Health and Nutrition Project to produce extensive and detailed assessments of these health care facilities earlier this year.  The assessments revealed chronic shortages of sterile, disposable medical supplies.

Feed the Future Tajikistan Health and Nutrition Project works with the Tajikistan Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population to improve the health and nutritional status of mothers and children in the 12 Feed the Future districts in the western Khatlon Province.  The main objective is to improve integrated healthcare at the family, community, clinical, and national levels to promote improved maternal, newborn, and child health, with a particular focus on nutrition, sanitation, and hygiene.  IntraHealth International, with partners Abt. Associates and Mercy Corps International, implements the Feed the Future Tajikistan Health and Nutrition Project.  The project works with 20 health care facilities and reaches over 30,000 households in 700 villages with over 50 staff and 1,000 village volunteers.

The Feed the Future Health and Nutrition Project is one of many assistance projects supported by the American people through USAID.  Since 1992, the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe has provided more than $1 billion in programs that support Tajikistan’s security, democratic institutions, social sector, and economic growth.

Feed the Future is the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative.  Feed the Future focuses on improving services at healthcare facilities, helping families improve nutrition and adopt healthy behaviors, and improving sanitation and hygiene at healthcare facilities and in communities.