April 2, 2020, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan – The U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has committed approximately 365 million tenge (more than $800,000) to support Kazakhstan’s efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The U.S. continues to work together with the Government of Kazakhstan during the coronavirus crisis. We praise Kazakhstan’s quick and decisive actions to stop the spread of COVID-19”, said the U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan William Moser. “We support transparency in such critical times because the free exchange of information is extremely important to overcome this pandemic and build resilience to future health risks.”

The United States has identified priority areas to provide support in collaboration with the Kazakhstan Ministry of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization. These include preparing laboratory systems for large-scale testing, preventing and controlling infections in health-care facilities, improving COVID-19 surveillance and rapid response, improving case management of those infected, combatting disinformation about the virus, and engaging communities to work together to fight the virus in Kazakhstan. USAID is providing funds to Abt Associates, the Kazakhstani Red Crescent through the International Federation of Red Cross, and the World Health Organization to support these activities.

This emergency assistance is part of the U.S. government’s global efforts to strengthen partner countries’ capacities to prevent and control infectious disease threats such as tuberculosis, HIV, and pandemics like COVID-19.

For decades, the United States has been the world’s largest provider of bilateral assistance in public health.   Since 2009, American taxpayers have generously made available more than $100 billion dollars in health assistance and nearly $70 million in humanitarian assistance globally.     This generosity is underscored by our contributions to several crucial multilateral partners, which includes:

• U.S. contributions to WHO in 2019, which exceeded $400 million, almost double the 2nd largest member state contribution.
• U.S. support to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) of nearly $1.7 billion contributed in 2019. This support will be critical going forward, as refugee populations are uniquely vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• U.S. contributions to the UN Children’s Fund in 2019 totaled more than $700 million. The life-saving activities UNICEF has been doing for years — such as immunization campaigns and health and sanitation training and assistance — will save lives as we fight this dangerous pathogen.

Because an infectious-disease threat anywhere can become a threat everywhere, the United States calls on other donors to contribute to the global effort to combat COVID-19.

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USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. USAID’s work advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity, demonstrates American generosity, and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience. To learn more, visit: https://www.usaid.gov/central-asia-regional and USAID/Central Asia’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/USAIDCentralAsia.

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For more information about novel coronavirus disease COVID-19, please visit: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

For more information about USAID’s response to COVID-19, please visit: https://www.usaid.gov/coronavirus-covid-19