Goal:  Reduce the burden of soil-transmitted helminth infections  in the general population, especially children, and strengthen preventive activities against re-infection 

Beneficiaries: 4.5 million individuals

Location:  Nationwide in Kyrgyzstan

Timeline:  2008- 2012

Partners: Ministry of Health (MOH) of Kyrgyzstan, United States Department of Defense, United States Department of State

Sustainability: By January 2013 the Kyrgyz government plans to finance 100%   of the total cost of continuing the annual deworming of school-aged children.  Thus the Kyrgyz government’s sustainability plan will provide significant long-term protection to children, the most vulnerable segment of the population.    

In June 2011, the Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Foundation successfully completed a nationwide deworming campaign in Kyrgyzstan. Over 3.1 million children and adults have benefited from the 12-month campaign, which was financed by the U.S. government.  This builds on RVF’s pilot deworming campaign which took place in 2008-2009 in Kyrgyzstan’s two most impoverished regions- Batken and Osh. Over 1.5 million children and adults were treated in this successful school-based program.  In September 2011, the Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Foundation has launched follow-up national deworming campaign focusing on school-aged children in the regions with the greatest epidemiologic need throughout the country.

In addition to two rounds of treatment with the deworming medication albendazole, the campaign included building local capacity by training lab specialist in modern diagnostic methods of helminthic infections, a pre-and post-treatment assessment of the worm burden across Kyrgyzstan to measure the efficacy of the campaign, and the provision of teaching materials on basic hygienic practices to teachers and parents to prevent re-infection among children.

The Kyrgyz Ministry of Health declared the deworming campaign a public health priority because of the high burden of intestinal parasites among the general population. Pre-campaign epidemiologic surveys sponsored by the RVF indicated parasite burdens of over 50% among adults and children.  Offending pathogens included Enterobius, Ascaris, and Trichuria. These intestinal worms cause children to suffer from reduced growth rates, learning problems, poor school attendance, malnutrition and anemia.

Representatives of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Health, the U.S. Transit Center at Manas and the RVF made regular  site visits to monitor and evaluate the deworming campaign. A video produced by the Transit Center at Manas during the final round of deworming in and around the capital Bishkek is available here.