Introduction:
The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) and TerraGraphics International Foundation (TIFO) have been awarded with a Grant for the “Development of an Environmental Health Educational Program” in the Kadamjay District, of Batken Oblast for Climate Change Resilience and Environmental Protection. The grant application was submitted to the Public Diplomacy Department of the Embassy of the United States in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. The Grant amount is $ 50,000.

Project Partners: International Higher School of Medicine in Bishkek; The Aidarken Center for General Medical Practice of the Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Kyrgyz Republic (Aidarken c.); and the Sanitary and Hygienic Laboratory of the Interdistrict Kadamjay Center for Disease Prevention of the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance, (Kadamjay c.).

Project Duration: October 2023 – September 2024 (one year)

Project Objectives:

• Develop an educational program involving healthcare providers and environmental professionals.
• Increase the knowledge of exposure-reducing interventions that healthcare providers can offer patients.
• Build local capacity to identify and reduce harmful levels of exposure to environmental hazards.
• Develop working relationships and partnerships with US and Kyrgyz agencies, educational providers, fellowship programs, and clinical continuing education providers.

Project Outcomes:

• An environmental health educational framework (including patient and provider educational materials) that meets MoH framework requirements and is informed by US guidance and practice standards
• Identification of new opportunities to integrate environmental response into patient case management
• Apply training to case studies to pilot the integration of an environmental and healthcare response
• Exercise the proposed interventions, and incorporate feedback to improve training and interventions
• Increased knowledge of low-resource interventions that maybe offered to high-risk individuals
• New partnerships between US and Kyrgyz Republic educational providers, fellowship programs, and clinical continuing education providers

Project Leadership:

• Project Director: Marc Nascarella, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
• Project Manager: Casey Bartrem, TerraGraphics International Foundation, Moscow, Idaho, USA.
• Project Coordinator: Gulzat Madmarova, TerraGraphics International Foundation, Kadamjay, Batken Oblast, Kyrgyz Republic
• Ainash Sharshenova: International Higher School of Medicine (Bishkek с.) and the National Institute of Public Health, Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic.
• Emil Sulaimanov: Aidarken Center for General Medical Practice, Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, Aidarken, Batken Oblast, Kyrgyz Republic.
• Makhmud Isirailov: Sanitary and hygienic laboratory of the Interdistrict Kadamjay Center for Disease Prevention and State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance, MoH, Kadamjay, Batken Oblast, Kyrgyz Republic.