Turkmenistan marks 4th anniversary of the implementation of the Ashgabat Declaration
WHO
On 4 December 2017, Turkmenistan marked the 4th anniversary of the implementation of the Ashgabat Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases in the Context of Health 2020. It hosted a conference dedicated to reviewing achievements in this area and setting objectives for the future.
The conference, jointly organized by the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan and the WHO Country Office in Turkmenistan, gathered over 300 participants. Representatives from cross-sectoral governmental institutions, United Nations agencies, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector presented their contributions to and innovations for reducing the burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the country.
Throughout the past 4 years, the Government has demonstrated enormous commitment and political will to strengthen the control of NCDs and to ensure the highest attainable level of health for Turkmen citizens.
As a result of joint efforts between Turkmenistan and WHO, tangible successes in the field NCD risk factors have been achieved. In particular, Turkmenistan has:
- strengthened its leading position in the field of tobacco control;
- actively implemented the recommended tools for NCD risk factor surveillance;
- improved data reporting; and
- developed and implemented the cross-sectoral model for the prevention and control of NCDs, which has come to be known as “the Turkmenistan model”.
The event was structured around the main pillars of the Ashgabat Declaration:
- acting across the whole of government;
- accelerating national actions, in particular the development of a people-centred health system;
- strengthening the national information system through a monitoring and evaluation system;
- fostering health-care innovation as a means of strengthening the effectiveness of the system; and
- accelerating action to protect present and future generations from the devastating consequences of tobacco.
The event also included a photo exhibition of key past events to implement the Ashgabat Declaration, an exhibition of recent publications on the topic and a virtual “School of Health”.
