UN jointly with Government and development partners met to discuss the needs and joint action to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to reduce its social-economic impact in Turkmenistan. The event is a follow-up meeting to the presentation of the Country preparedness and response plan (CPRP) on COVID-19 held on March 31, 2020, UN reports. 

The participants including national partners and international organizations as OSCE, EU delegation, USAID, EBRD, ADB, World Bank reviewed the proposed actions across CPRP’s 10 pillars, which are: national  level coordination; risk communication and community engagement; surveillance; points of entry; case investigation and rapid response; national laboratory system; infection prevention and control (IPC); case management; multisectoral action to mitigate the social and economic consequences; logistics and  supply management.

The Head of Prevention Department of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry noted that the CPRP is a comprehensive plan and meets international standards. Once it is approved, the national partners jointly with development partners will start to implement it.

The development partners informed on available financial and technical resources that could be provided to Turkmenistan within the implementation of CPRP.

Partners agreed on the following steps to be implemented:

• conducting assessments on hospital preparedness, security, and vulnerability risk assessment;

• development/adaptation of normative documents, guidelines taking into account WHO recommendations;

• development of plans, SOPs, protocols, lists of necessary tools and materials;

• development of educational modules and conducting training among target groups of specialists;

• development of various information materials to inform the public and vulnerable groups;

• translation, printing, distribution of materials;

• supporting small and medium-sized businesses in overcoming the effects of the global economic downturn and mitigating the negative impact on jobs and livelihoods in agriculture and other sectors of the economy.