Ashgabat, 21 April 2025 – Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan in partnership with UNICEF continue to strengthen management of childhood illnesses. From 14 to 19 April 2025, Professor Olena Starets, a UNICEF international expert visited Turkmenistan to strengthen health service capacities and implementation of international child health protocols and standards, as well as to expand community outreach.
The program included training of trainers to create a network of skilled national specialists. It improved the knowledge of health professionals in giving quality supervision and feedback to medical staff, focusing on clinical guidelines for assessing, classifying, and treating childhood illnesses, as well as infant care, nutrition, immunization, and development support.
In addition, Professor Starets led three public outreach events for influencers and families at UN House, Telwas Coworking Center and Lavka-Readit titled “Keeping Our Children Healthy”. Sessions brought together around 100 participants face-to-face and further reached hundreds of people through social media platforms with topics such as recognizing danger signs, timely care-seeking, and effective home-based care for children.
“I enjoyed the session a lot and learned how to better care for my child when they have fever or cough. It gave me confidence to know what to do at home and when to see a doctor,” said Merjen, a mother two children, who participated in the session.
“Effective health systems begin with strong primary care capacity. By integrating the recommended child health protocols and standards in every day medical and parental practices, we are helping to equip frontline health workers and families with the knowledge and tools to ensure every child is protected from illnesses and thrives,” said Alexandru Nartea, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Turkmenistan.
Building on the success of these sessions, UNICEF is pleased to announce two upcoming events on 30 April at Telwas Coworking Center and 1 May at Readit-Lavka which will be facilitated by the UNICEF early childhood development trainer. These sessions will offer participants the opportunity to ask questions about child health, nutrition and development in Turkmen language. ///nCa, 22 April 2025 (in cooperation with UNICEF Turkmenistan)