Kyrgyzstan

Since 1996, AmeriCares has provided medical and humanitarian aid to the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in Kyrgyzstan.  ADRA is a nonprofit development and humanitarian aid organization that implements community development initiatives to address food security, economic development, primary health, and basic education.  ADRA-Kyrgyzstan distributes nutritional supplies, medicines, medical supplies, hygiene products, clothing, and other humanitarian aid that they receive from AmeriCares to a large network of hospitals and local social organizations through the Ministry of Health system, as well as through ADRA's independent community-based programs.  Their recipients are located throughout the country and operate programs in nearly every region of Kyrgyzstan.

Since the spring of 2004, AmeriCares has partnered with the pharmaceutical company Merck to address hypertension and cardiovascular disease in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.  After field visits to the two countries, AmeriCares identified hypertension as a growing public health issue in Central Asia.  Doctors in Kyrygzstan and Uzbekistan are faced with an increasingly large population with hypertension (high blood pressure) but inadequate medicines to treat the chronic and potentially dangerous condition.  Over the past two years, AmeriCares has worked with Merck to provide Prinivil and Timolide (anti-hypertensive drugs used to lower blood pressure) to hospitals and clinics in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.  Local partners, the Soglom Avlod Uchun ("For a Healthy Generation") Foundation in Uzbekistan and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency in Kyrgyzstan, distribute the drugs to dozens of medical institutions in the two countries.  The recipient institutions have used the anti-hypertensive drugs to treat thousands of patients for both acute and chronic needs.  AmeriCares hopes to build on the success of this program by incorporating complementary components such as creating patient education materials, and enhancing the infrastructure of Kyrgyz and Uzbek healthcare facilities by providing diagnostic equipment.