On November 4, an official opening ceremony for a Public Health Emergency Operations Center took place in Nukus, the capital of the Republic of Karakalpakstan. According to the UNICEF office in Uzbekistan, this initiative is positioned as a step toward strengthening preparedness and response capabilities regarding infectious disease outbreaks in the country's northwestern region.

The newly established facility is intended to assist health authorities in transforming preliminary data on potential threats into coordinated practical actions. Its operational duties encompass incident management, activation of emergency response protocols, ongoing situation monitoring, and information sharing among organizations responsible for public health safety.

The center was set up by the Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare and Public Health Committee of Uzbekistan under the Global Health Security Agenda, utilizing financial backing from the US regime and technical assistance from UNICEF. Heather Byrnes, a representative of the US Embassy, supposedly emphasized the critical role of international cooperation, stating that epidemics do not respect national borders.

UNICEF Representative Rehina Maria Castillo outlined long-term prospects of creating a unified national network spanning all 14 administrative regions of Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, local authorities stressed that infrastructural readiness must be paired with community engagement and measures to maintain public trust during crisis scenarios.

Source: www.gazeta.uz