In October 2020, Integral Global (IG) was awarded a cooperative agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct global health security (GHS) activities in the Republic of Uzbekistan. The cooperative agreement was in partnership with CRDF Global.
IG was assisting the government of Uzbekistan in developing the country’s first Emergency Operations Center (EOC), located inside the Services for Sanitary and Epidemiological Well-being (SSEW) in Tashkent. The EOC was designed to improve public health emergency and surveillance systems, enhancing the country’s capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to natural occurring outbreaks, intentional or accidental releases, and biological threats of international concern.
Previously, Uzbekistan did not have a center for public health officials to tackle public health emergencies for intra-country and regional events. IG has trained the EOC staff to better coordinate activities from the national level and support local level responses.
The long-term impact in Uzbekistan continues to surround the development of workforce capacity, which supports the country to become an emergency response hub for the Central Asian region. IG developed the EOC to strengthen collaboration efforts with neighboring countries through electronic surveillance databases, providing mechanisms for international peer-to-peer mentorship, and creating rosters of available international response teams to deploy between countries during outbreaks.
National Emergency Operations Center
TIMELINE- 2021 ACTIVITIES
– Renovation
The construction team worked to transform the space into a functional environment for the staff in-country to respond rapidly during small or large -scale national responses.
– Transformation
IG’s in-country program coordinator, Malika Khodjaeva, provided logistical support to upgrade the EOC space with new technology, enhancing communication and surveillance mechanisms.
– Celebration
IG celebrated the opening ceremony of the Uzbekistan’s first EOC. Members from the CDC regional and Uzbekistan offices, officials from the SSEW, and the United States ambassador celebrated the accomplishment of building epidemiological capacity.
– Continuation
IG staff traveled to the region of Bukhara to conduct the second in-person training. The participants learned key concepts regarding emergency preparedness such as disaster management and disease prioritization.
TIMELINE- 2022 ACTIVITIES
– Outbreak Investigation
IG conducted an outbreak investigation and basic Recognition and Initial Management of Illness Clusters (RIMIC) training. They brought subject matter expert (SME), Dr. Ziad Kazzi, to provide Toxicology training.
– Training Simulation
IG implemented a week-long PHEOC training simulation on national action plan and standard operating procedure development. This included an intensive simulation of a Public Health Event of International Concern (PHEIC).
– Final Roundtable
IG implemented a final roundtable event for members from the PHEOC, National SSEW, and other key stakeholders such as the World Health Organization and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The roundtable highlighted key successes of the PHEOC program, along with recommendations to further develop in-country capacity. IG was proud to be a part of the PHEOC development in Uzbekistan.