Bektur Abdiev has worked for nearly three decades in a dialysis unit at the National Center of Cardiology and Therapy in Bishkek, the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic. The doctor oversees every dialysis session in the busy unit—a “lifeline,” as he calls it, for patients suffering from kidney failure.
But in the Kyrgyz Republic, not all patients are as lucky as those Abdiev watches over. A nationwide shortage of equipment and expertise means that only 20 percent of people who need dialysis have access to it through the country’s public health centers. The tragic result is that nearly 1,000 Kyrgyz citizens die every year from kidney failure.
Although many of those deaths could have been prevented, “Our medical system has struggled to provide quality dialysis treatment,” says Abdiev. Dialysis clients “face problems like outdated facility and equipment, difficulty controlling infections among patients, and poor water quality.”
Abdiev and many of his colleagues believe that a new public-private partnership (PPP) expected to dramatically improve dialysis services across the country will better serve patients and their families. With IFC’s advisory support, the country’s first-ever PPP makes it possible for Fresenius Medical Care to provide cutting-edge dialysis services to patients across four major cities of the Kyrgyz Republic, including the capital. About 75 percent of the country’s total population will be covered by the centers. The private investment in the country’s health-care system demonstrates that investors have confidence in the nation and facilitates future investments.
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