The helm of affairs at the World Health Organization's (WHO) mission in Tajikistan, Santino Severoni, has an unenviable agenda in front of him. Tajikistan is reeling under a malnourished public health system, bruised after the five –year civil war, and has left a trail of devastation that is calling for urgent remedy.
Severoni, 42, a key contributor as a surgeon in Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Burundi and Tanzania, and has been a witness to all the four civil wars that have ravaged these countries.Tajikistan’s health care facilities need a major revamp especially in areas like obstetric services, issues of infectious diseases, tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS and others. There have been extreme difficulties in access to quality healthcare in remote areas, and a dearth of necessary special equipment at health facilities. Infant and maternal mortality rates have always been high in Tajikistan, with nearly 70 percent of women not enabled with pre-natal care.
In the words of, Santino Severoni , “Therefore, it has been decided to increase WHO's support to Tajikistan and to boost the staff of WHO's mission in the country. WHO intends to provide quality resources to support the country's public health system. Usually WHO does not work in the system of infrastructure, but provides technical assistance via the health ministry”
