Tannuka Juneja
The India-Tajikistan Friendship Hospital (ITFH) in Bokhtar was handed over to Tajikistan’s Deputy Defense Minister, Major General Shohiyon Abdusottor.
According to an official statement, Viraj Singh, India’s Ambassador to Tajikistan, handed over the hospital on behalf of the Indian government. “The entire complement of medical equipment, medicines, stores, and support equipment, including an Operation Theatre, X-Ray machines, laboratories, critical care ambulances, and administrative vehicles were also handed over to the Tajik side,” the Indian Embassy in Dushanbe stated.
The hospital was renovated by the Indian government and opened in October 2014 based on a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two parties in January 2013. “This fully-fledged 50-bedded hospital has rendered free-of-cost valuable medical services for the last 8 years to the Armed Forces and civilian populace of Tajikistan based on technical support and financial assistance from the Government of India,” the Embassy informed.
“The ITFH has an array of medical specialties including ENT, Surgery, Gynecology, Medicine, Pediatrics, and Dental departments. It has provided medical support to more than 100,000 patients over these years including more than 2000 surgeries in the last 2 years,” it added.
According to the statement, a team of Indian Army doctors and medical personnel provided various medical services to Tajik nationals and trained a number of Tajik doctors and medical personnel. Over the past 8 years, over 42 tons of ‘Made in India’ medicines have been sent to the ITFH.
In addition to the hospital, New Delhi provided medical assistance to Tajikistan through other means. India provided 2 million doses of oral polio vaccine through UNICEF in 2010 following the polio outbreak in southwestern Tajikistan.
“In March 2018, India gifted 10 ambulances to various regions of Tajikistan. In May 2020, India provided 50,000 HCQ tablets and 100,000 paracetamol tablets to Tajikistan. In 2021, approx 700,000 ‘Made in India’ Covidshield vaccines were supplied to Tajikistan,” the official statement read.
