Turkmenistan

Helpful Resources
	Bringing Primary Care to Turkmenistan: The Achievements of the Ashgabat/North Dakota Partnership Lay the Groundwork for Successful Healthcare Reform (AIHA Connections, January 2005)

AIHA's Primary Healthcare Program in Turkmenistan began in 2000, with a specific goal to develop a skills-based primary care curriculum and retraining program for physicians, nurses, and feldshers. One partnership, between Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, and a group of communities in North Dakota, was established in 2000 and led to the establishment of a Primary Healthcare Center. This Center also housed a training facility which conducted approximately one 4-week training program each month for eight physician-nurse teams (or 16 individuals, on average) each session. By the end of the partnership in 2003, the center had trained more than 600 medical workers.

Several changes were noticed in diagnostic trends as a result of the increased knowledge among health workers who participated in the training at the center. For example, early diagnosis of breast cancer improved because of the increased practice of clinical and self-breast exams. The need to refer patients to specialists has also decreased due to the ability of the providers to properly use otoscopes and opthalmoscopes. Providers who received training at the center improved communication skills and learned patient-focused, rather than disease-focused care. The partners reported that this reorientation increased efficiency and increased trust among medical workers.

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