On 18 November 2020, UNDP and handed over 165 units of oxygen concentrators funded by the Coca-Cola Foundation to the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan, to be used in delivering critical treatment to COVID-19 patients in Karakalpakstan.

Earlier this year the Coca-Cola Foundation allocated a grant of $200,000 to be used in procuring ventilators and other medical equipment, as a key part of UNDP’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Uzbekistan. UNDP has also provided four ICU ventilators through the same grant by Coca-Cola Foundation currently being used to treat the most severe cases.

Oxygen concentrators are a non-invasive way of providing oxygen to patients hospitalized with the COVID-19 virus. This supplemental oxygen is the first essential step undertaken for treating the low blood oxygen levels of patients with acute cases and is the primary component of treatment at this stage.

Following necessary administrative steps undertaken by authorities, the 165 procured oxygen concentrators will be distributed out to all 16 district health departments and Nukus city health department in Karakalpakstan, which will in turn reduce the burden placed on the region’s centralized republican medical institutions.

UNDP Uzbekistan has been cooperating with the Coca-Cola Foundation since 2011. Five projects have received $505,000 in funding from the Coca-Cola Foundation in the past. Those projects were successfully implemented in remote rural areas of the Samarkand, Navoi and Karakalpakstan regions, in cooperation with national agencies and organizations.

UNDP has committed considerable personnel and resources to supporting Uzbekistan in limiting the national spread of COVID-19, and mitigating the negative consequences it may have on vulnerable population groups and economies.

Since March, UNDP has been working with national partners to counter not just the immediate health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also its socio-economic consequences and particularly those experienced intensively in Karakalpakstan and the Aral Sea region.

This responsive work has ranged from providing assistance to vulnerable persons including marginalized women, informally employed people and people living with disabilities, to ensuring that small businesses can sustain themselves, and that adequate PPE and sanitary products remain available to all citizens.

Together with national partners including Coca-Cola Foundation UNDP has been closely monitoring the pandemic’s nationwide impacts, and contributing to the formulation of a comprehensive strategy to help Uzbekistan build forward better.