Kyrgyzstan: Where does humanitarian aid to fight against coronavirus go?

Doctors continue to feel a lack of protective equipment in the fight against coronavirus. This happens despite the help of hundreds of millions US dollars and protective equipment from a dozen countries and international organizations.

The Public Foundation “Legal Clinic Adilet” made an open appeal to the President Sooronbai Jeenbekov with a request to pay attention to the situation in the country in order to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens. The full text of the letter is available on the organization’s website.

“The state has introduced emergency situation and state of emergency. Many state bodies are working in an enhanced mode; human rights and freedoms are temporarily limited. We support the efforts of government agencies in the fight against the spread of the virus and encourage citizens to follow the instructions of the authorities,” the authors of the letter note.

At the same time, human rights activists state that the Kyrgyz public saw a very low level of preparation of state bodies for the fight against coronavirus.

“The biggest indignation among people is the truly criminal and treacherous attitude of the state towards medical workers who are at the front line in the fight against the spread of the virus. From the very beginning of the emergency situation and state of emergency, alarming signals from doctors and nurses were reported in the media and social networks about the complete absence of normal working conditions with increased work risks,” the statement says.

The authors of the letter emphasize that medical personnel are not given vital protective equipment: special suits, respirators, even ordinary disposable masks and gloves. “At the same time, state authorities constantly report that enough funding is being sent to the Ministry of Health to equip all workers with the necessary protective equipment. Moreover, a special account was even opened in the republic for additional fundraising,” human rights activists write.

Human rights activists report that all these circumstances raise a lot of questions about the distribution of financial resources by the government and local authorities. It turns out that there is money, but it doesn’t reach the medical workers.

Employees of the “Legal Clinic Adilet” also say that almost all reports of the absence of personal protective equipment for doctors arrive anonymously, because the authorities forbid doctors and nurses to publicly report the absence of normal working conditions under threat of dismissal. Moreover, in relation to doctors and their relatives, persecution by the State Committee for National Security and the Ministry of Internal Affairs begins. In some cases, they are forced to give rebuttals and apologize to the people allegedly for disseminating false information.

“Kyrgyzstan is a small country. So the authorities will not be able to stop the dissemination of real information about what is happening on the ground. It is well known that our people are closely connected with their families, relatives and friends. Almost every family has a person who works in the healthcare system. In this regard, the society in any case learns about the conditions under which our doctors work, how scanty earnings they receive, how they collect money from them, while forcing them to buy gloves, bandages and etc. at their own expense. If you look at this situation from the side, then such actions are nothing more than a serious crime against their own people,” human rights activists write.

In addition, the appeal of the “Legal Clinic Adilet” says that in Kyrgyzstan, there is a tense socio-economic situation, which was caused, inter alia, by the lack of the ability to earn.

“People are running out of money to buy food and medicine. Under such circumstances, nice reports by the authorities about the ongoing processes, unreasonable and excessively harsh actions of law enforcement agencies, commandant’s offices and local authorities to restrict freedom of movement and freedom of speech, when people are locked in their own apartments, welding the doors of entrances, or threatened with fines for walking without masks. All these actions only annoy the society and try its patience,” human rights activists say.

They urge the President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbai Jeenbekov to pay attention to the situation in the country and, in order to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens, to give the necessary instructions to the relevant state structures, including those aimed at:

– providing all medical personnel with personal protective equipment;

– ensuring payment to medical personnel of all prescribed payments and other deductions;

– immediate termination of the prosecution of medical workers and their relatives by the State Committee for National Security of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic and other law enforcement agencies for reporting the real situation and requests for personal protective equipment;

– ensuring the publication of the full texts of orders of localities’ commandants in the media that affect human rights and freedoms, including issues of private property and economic activity;

– strengthening supervision of the legality of law enforcement by the Prosecutor General of the Kyrgyz Republic in order to prevent human rights violations, including checking the orders of local commandants for compliance with the Constitution and legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic;

– ensuring public and detailed reporting by the government and other state bodies on the distribution of financial resources accumulated and allocated for the purpose of combating the spread of coronavirus infection;

– conducting by the Audit Chamber of the Kyrgyz Republic an audit of the use of cash and material resources accumulated and allocated to organizations of the health system to combat the spread of coronavirus infection;

– assisting in the speedy adoption of legislative amendments aimed at increasing the legal and social guarantees of medical workers and entry them into force.”

It should be noted that in Kyrgyzstan, indeed, an account has been opened where anyone can send funds to fight against coronavirus infection. Moreover, such an account is not one, there are four of them.

The main special account has been opened by the Ministry of Finance for the Ministry of Health. According to the data of April 9, 2020, it received 121 million 814 thousand 766 KGS. There is also an account of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development of the Kyrgyz Republic, where 7.8 million KGS were entered. In addition, special accounts for the fight against coronavirus are open to the mayors of Bishkek and Osh. They collected 2.7 million and 4.3 million KGS, respectively.

“In addition, Kyrgyzstan received humanitarian and financial assistance from several states and international organizations in the context of the coronavirus pandemic,” First Deputy Foreign Minister, Nuran Niyazaliev, said at a briefing.

Niyazaliev said that help has already been received in the form of personal protective equipment, medical equipment, rapid tests and reagents for $15 million from Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, the USA, Switzerland, Uzbekistan, Belgium and other countries. More than 50 thousand gloves, 280 thousand masks, more than 3 thousand protective suits, 4 artificial lung ventilation devices, more than 40 thousand rapid tests and 32 thousand reagents were delivered to the republic.

More than 5000 test systems and reagents were requested through Kyrgyz-Russian cooperation, some of which have already been received. The government of China and the authorities of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Republic helped greatly. In addition, 1.8 million yuan as humanitarian aid came from one Chinese foundation.

In addition, the International Monetary Fund allocates $120.9 million to the republic. The German government through GIZ will provide a grant of 550 000 euros. Islamic Development Bank will allocate $11 million. It has also provided a grant of $350 000 in the form of 30,400 PCR tests with reagents (the cargo arrived in the evening of April 8). The World Bank gives Kyrgyzstan more than $12 million in emergency response. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is considering to provide assistance for $100-150 million. After negotiations, the Asian Development Bank approved emergency assistance in the amount of $200 000 for the purchase of medicines and equipment. In addition, additional loans and grants will be allocated to fill the funding gap, strengthen the health system and increase its ability to react to the pandemic.

Despite attracting a large amount of cash receipts, doctors continue to report a lack of special protective equipment and their purchase for their own money.

Kyrgyz media wrote that the Ministry of Health of the Republic does not provide doctors even with medical masks.

The daughter of one of the doctors told reporters that doctors glued sanitary pads inside the masks. The girl said on condition of anonymity that her mother works in a hospital in Bishkek, and she has to buy masks at her own expense.

“Masks need to be changed every two hours. Mom works for 10-12 hours, and everyone knows how much the masks cost now. They have to stick inside sanitary pads. It may seem ridiculous from the outside, but in reality it makes me cry. Where is the Ministry of Health looking?”, she was indignant.

On March 24, Facebook user, Zarema Asanbekova, wrote on her page that doctors, who work in quarantine centers, are forced to buy the necessary medical supplies at their own expense.

“From tomorrow, doctors are sent to the quarantine zone. They were instructed to prepare at their own expense bags where they should have a protective suit, masks and gloves, rations and personal care products. I have some questions. Where are the funds allocated? Why should doctors at their own expense buy what the state should provide? What did the money go for?” Asanbekova emphasized.

Zarema Asanbekova also emphasized that doctors cannot refuse to comply with instructions, since they are threatened with dismissal.

On April 6, Facebook user, Kubat Isaev, wrote on his page about the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for doctors. He wrote that even emergency doctors are provided with PPE only when they go in case of suspected COVID-19.

“Disposable masks (which can be worn for 3-4 hours) are given in insufficient quantities. A week ago, they gave 10 masks for three (driver, doctor, paramedic) for a day. They wrote to the head doctor that there were not enough masks, after which they began to give 15 masks for three for a day, but this is also not enough. At least one person needs 8 masks per day, and for three 24 instead of 15.

And the manager says that they give them what they have,” he wrote in his post.