Health financing in Kyrgyzstan: obstacles and opportunities in the response to COVID-19

Overview

The COVID-19 crisis has re-emphasized the absolute necessity for strong, adequately funded and resilient health systems that can respond quickly and equitably to emergencies while ensuring financial protection for all. Kyrgyzstan has taken important decisions to increase public funding for the health system response to COVID 19, including increased donor support. Sufficient public funding for the country response to the COVID-19 outbreak is needed to support scaling-up and delivery of population-based and individual services. This brief aims to provide a basis for discussions among national policy-makers, international donors and other development partners on how to increase efficiency in health financing to improve the response to COVID-19 in Kyrgyzstan. It highlights how challenges to the existing health financing model may have hampered the COVID-19 response in the country and presents recommendations to overcome them and increase the overall resilience of health systems, including emergency preparedness and response.