HEALTHCAP - Health Research Capacity and Water-Releated Diseases: Improving Risk Assessment Strategies for Public Health Care in Uzbekistan

Keywords

Health systems research, water management, risk assessment, capacity building, public health

Countries

Uzbekistan

Summary

HEALTHCAP is a science-based capacity building project to improve risk assessment strategies to address the growing threat from water-related diseases (WRD) in Uzbekistan. The project is an outcome from a thematic workshop on ‘Global Environmental Change and Water-related Diseases: Improving Risk Assessment Strategies for Public Health Care in Uzbekistan’ held in Tashkent between 2nd and 6th May 2011 (<link http: www.zef.de fileadmin webfiles downloads saravanan_2col_ws_2011.pdf _blank>» Workshop Information). The workshop recommended an exploratory and explanatory research to improve risk assessment strategies towards addressing WRD in the country. This helps to improve health and well-being of the people in local communities and at regional level to prevent health problems before they occur. HEALTHCAP takes on this recommendation to carry out risk analysis and risk characterization through scientific engagement between Uzbek and European researchers. It achieves this by unraveling the interconnections between socio-economic, institutional, ecological and epidemiological factors influencing WRD, and its link with the socio-political nature of health policy, often ignored in public health research. The project is fundamental, exploratory and attempts to explain health risk from WRD through a disciplinary and interdisciplinary research. Through this, HEALTHCAP addresses two major goals of the Volkswagen Foundation funding initiative in Central Asia: to stimulate and encourage German scientist to engage in public health research with Uzbek scientist; and to improve conditions for research and higher education for improved public health care in Uzbekistan. This is achieved through the following objectives:

1. Identifying opportunities for strengthening health research capacity building in Uzbekistan for improved surveillance and monitoring of the WRD.
2. Understanding the intrinsic and extrinsic global environmental change factors influencing the WRD with two case study districts (rural and urban) in the Tashkent Province of Uzbekistan.
3. Identifying tools and policies as instruments for improving risk assessment strategies for public health policies and programs, specifically related to WRD in the Tashkent Province.

For details use: <link http: www.zef.de fileadmin webfiles downloads projects healthcap healthcap-objectives.pdf _blank>HEALTHCAP – Objectives

Methodology

HEALTHCAP will operate in two case study districts – one rural and the other urban in Tashkent Province, except for relevant policy assessments, institutional arrangements and socio-ecological condition that operates across provinces at the national level. The province was chosen given the combination of rural and urban settings, existence of disaggregated health information system and prevalence of emerging and newly emerging WRD diseases. HEALTHCAP will strengthen health data base management in the selected two districts, and its research findings will offer insights for developing a health research framework, improving surveillance and monitoring of WRDs and strengthening Uzbekistan’s’ water safety plan.

For details use: <link http: www.zef.de fileadmin webfiles downloads projects healthcap healthcap-methodology.pdf _blank>HEALTHCAP – Methodology

Main Cooperation Partners

Maastricht University, International Centre for Integrated Assessment and Sustainable Development (ICIS), The Netherlands

• Prof. Pim Martens; Professor and Scientific Director – Advisor Sustainability science in the context of Environment and health
• Dr. Huynen Maud; Project Leader; Research Fellow Global Health – International Centre for Integrated assessment & Sustainable development (ICIS)

Research Institute of Sanitation, Hygiene and Occupational Diseases (RISHOD), Tashkent, Uzbekistan

• Rosa Kamilova; National Coordinator – Epidemiologist, and social scientist
• Dinara Khashirbaeva; Team Leader – Epidemiologist and Data Management
• Lola Isakova; PhD Candidate – Epidemiology of water-related diseases
• Laylo Basharova; PhD Candidate – Socio-hygiene and institutional aspects of water-related diseases

Hydrometeorological Research Institute, UzHydromet (HRMI), Tashkent, Uzbekistan

• Dr. Bakhriddin Nishonov; Deputy Director, Head of Laboratory, Team Leader – socio-economic and water quality analysis agricultural water Management

Research Institute of Irrigation and Water Problems (RIIWP) at Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Melioration, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

• Prof. Islam Usmanov; Head of Laboratory, Team Leader – spatial science and water quality Analysis
• Feruza Alimova; PhD Candidate – Risk assessment and spatial Analysis

Main Funding Partners

Volkswagen Stiftung

Further information

• <link file:3022 download file>HEALTHCAP Project Newsletter 1 / 2014
• <link file:3023 download file>HEALTHCAP Project Newsletter 2 / 2015
• <link file:3024 download file>HEALTHCAP Project Newsletter 3 / 2015
• <link file:3025 download file>HEALTHCAP Project Newsletter 4 / 2016
• <link file:3026 download file>HEALTHCAP Project Newsletter 5 / 2016

Publications

• Alimova F and Fayzieva D. 2015. Geospatial analysis of water-related diseases in Tashkent province. (<link file:3021 download file>HEALTHCAP Working Papers 1)

Duration of the Project

01/2014 – 12/2016
(extended to 07/2017 at neutral costs)