The Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) plan to launch a scientific study in several regions of the country. It will focus on the impact of extreme heat on the health of pregnant women and newborns. The agreement was reached during a meeting between Health Minister Akmaral Alnazarova and representatives of the fund, reported infohub.kz.
"The parties discussed conducting a joint study with UNFPA on the impact of extreme heat on the health of pregnant women and newborns," the ministry's press service said. "The research will focus on the hottest regions of the country – Kyzylorda, Turkistan and Mangystau regions."
Another area of cooperation with UNFPA will be the development of youth health centers. New approaches are planned, including remote psychological and reproductive assistance for adolescents, young people and women living in rural areas.
"Under the pilot, we propose to create regional telepsychology centers at youth health centers, provide remote consultations by qualified psychologists for rural youth, and form mobile interdisciplinary teams to visit remote settlements," the minister said.
In addition, Alnazarova stressed the need to focus on crisis counseling for issues such as violence, suicide risk, crisis pregnancy, reproductive loss, anxiety and depression.
Kazakhstan also plans to establish platforms for the United Nations University and the School of Public Health, with a focus on the impact of climate change on public health.
Earlier, it was reported that over the past five years, funding for children's medical care in Kazakhstan has doubled, reaching nearly a quarter of the total health budget.