Turkey’s Global Fight against the Coronavirus Continues at the Friendship Hospital in Kyrgyzstan

In order to combat the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Kyrgyzstan, the 72-bed Bishkek Kyrgyzstan-Turkey Friendship Hospital, which has recently been built and equipped with medical devices by Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), was temporarily permitted to be used by Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Health over the course of the pandemic.

TİKA Built the Hospital upon the Instructions of Our President

During his official visit to Kyrgyzstan in 2013, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was the Prime Minister of Turkey at the time, met with the President of Kyrgyzstan and instructed TİKA to build a hospital in Bishkek.

In 2016, TİKA started working on the hospital to be built mainly for the advanced diagnosis and treatment of cardiac and gastroenterological diseases on the land of the City Hospital No. 1, owned by the Municipality of Bishkek, upon the instructions of our President.

Having an indoor area of approximately 12,000 sq. meters, the hospital will provide advanced diagnosis and treatment in the fields of cardiology, cardiovascular surgery, general surgery, chest diseases, anesthesiology and reanimation, interventional radiology, and gastroenterology. The hospital has 72 beds, including 21 ICU beds; laboratories; 2 operating rooms; 3 intensive care units; and angiography and medical imaging units. There are also 22 ICU ventilators at the hospital.

The Hospital Will Be Operated Jointly by the Ministries of Health of Turkey and Kyrgyzstan

While the previous protocols signed on the construction and transfer of the hospital are still in effect, another protocol was issued on the temporary transfer of the Friendship Hospital to Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Health to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. With the protocol signed, the hospital was temporarily permitted to be used by Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Health over the course of the pandemic.

The Friendship Hospital will be operated jointly by the Ministries of Health of Turkey and Kyrgyzstan for 3 years to ensure the sharing of experiences.

“This virus is a global problem. It is a human duty to share our experiences with other countries.”

In addition to the hospital in Kyrgyzstan, the hospital renovated by TİKA in Batumi, Georgia, plays a major role in the fight against the coronavirus. Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy had previously underlined the importance of the global fight against the coronavirus and noted that Turkey would share its experience with foreign countries.

He said, “Our government made an exemplary effort and took all the necessary measures in a timely manner to eliminate the global novel coronavirus threat. This virus is a global problem. Thus, it is a human duty to share our country’s experience in the fight against the virus with other countries and help them as much as we can.”

The equipment was procured from Turkey

A significant portion of the furniture, such as patient beds, armchairs, stretchers, desks, and chairs, was procured from Turkey. The hospital became operational with the delivery of medical devices and supplies at the end of 2018.

The Hospital is partially transferred to Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry due to the coronavirus

Due to the global COVID-19 outbreak, Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Health requested that the Bishkek Kyrgyzstan-Turkey Friendship Hospital be put into service for the admission and treatment of COVID-19 patients as part of the necessary measures, such as monitoring, early diagnosis, and isolation, taken in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) to prevent the spread of the infection. The preparations were completed and the hospital became operational.

The Temporary Transfer Protocol, which specifies the terms of use of the hospital during the fight against the pandemic, was signed by the Kyrgyz Republic’s Minister of Health Sabirzhan Abdikarimov and TİKA’s Bishkek Program Coordinator Ali Muslu on June 04, 2020.

At the signing ceremony held at the Ministry of Health, the Kyrgyz Republic’s Minister of Health Sabirzhan Abdikarimov thanked the Turkish people, the Republic of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and TİKA. He said, “We had planned to open the Bishkek Kyrgyzstan-Turkey Friendship Hospital with an official ceremony. However, considering the uninterrupted and intense operation of the Republican Infectious Diseases Hospital for the past 2.5 months, we decided to put this hospital into service temporarily.” Stressing that their country needed the advanced medical treatment that this hospital would provide, the Minister stated that the Kyrgyz people are looking forward to the hospital becoming fully operational and being officially inaugurated after the outbreak. He reminded that the Speaker of Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Council and the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey discussed the acceleration of the opening of the hospital.

TİKA’s Bishkek Program Coordinator Ali Muslu expressed his satisfaction with the opening of the hospital to combat the COVID-19 outbreak and said that he hoped the hospital would be beneficial to both parties as a symbol of the friendship between the two countries. Muslu said, “We are glad to sign the temporary transfer protocol of the Bishkek Kyrgyzstan-Turkey Friendship Hospital, which was completed in 2018. This modern and state-of-the-art hospital that Kyrgyzstan needed was built as a gift from Turkey to the Kyrgyz people in order to share Turkey’s experience in healthcare. We are temporarily transferring the hospital in order to support Kyrgyzstan during the current COVID-19 outbreak. We hope the hospital will be transferred fully as soon as possible after the pandemic to be operated jointly with our Ministry of Health.” Muslu reminded that Turkey stands in solidarity with Kyrgyzstan with all its institutions in the fight against the pandemic. 

An agreement had been signed on the opening, joint operation, and transfer of the hospital during the visit of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Kyrgyzstan in 2018. First Lady Emine Erdoğan, the wife of President Erdoğan, had visited and examined the Bishkek Kyrgyzstan-Turkey Friendship Hospital with First Lady of Kyrgyzstan Aigul Jeenbekova.

Medical Equipment Was Provided to Kyrgyz Healthcare Providers

As part of the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak, TİKA had previously provided 3,000 masks, 3,000 glasses, 500 safety goggles, 500 protective coveralls, 700 face shields, and 1,000 bottles of antiseptic solution to Kyrgyzstan to protect healthcare providers working in hospitals. In addition, it had provided 7,500 food parcels and protective equipment to families in need who were adversely affected by the outbreak.

The Infectious Diseases Unit of the Batken Central Regional Hospital, which was renovated by TİKA last year in the city of Batken, is used as a quarantine and treatment hospital.