On 1 April 2021, the WHO Country Office for Turkmenistan and WHO Regional Office for Europe (EURO), as part of a joint WHO-EU project for COVID-19 Crisis Response for Central Asian countries, organized an online training for health care workers. The objectives of the training were to provide health care workers with hands-on skills in crises communication, identification of vaccine hesitancy among patients, risk communication principles during vaccination consultations, and ways to inform the population about efficacy of vaccination and general immunization.

International experts from WHO EURO were invited to lead the seminar, and together with specialists from the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan, State Sanitary and Epidemiological Service, as well as health care workers serving in primary health care facilities, discussed crisis and interpersonal communication skills for medical workers during the vaccination campaign and the latest updates regarding COVID-19 vaccines.

Opening the event, Dr. Tasnim Atatrah, the Acting Representative of the WHO in Turkmenistan. has emphasized the fact that the effectiveness of the COVID-19 response actions depends on everyone’s individual contribution. “While we are working to advance access to vaccination, it is important to reinforce basic measures that remain the foundation for our response”, Dr. Atatrah said.

The seminar provided an evidence-based communication algorithm for health workers on conversations with patients about COVID-19 vaccination, motivational interviewing techniques for addressing hesitancy among patients towards vaccination and communicating risks during such consultations.

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Central Asia COVID-19 Crisis Response Programme (CACCR) aims at strengthening public health emergency preparedness, coordination, detection and response to COVID-19 with focus on Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. A €3 million regional project financed by the European Union and implemented by the WHO in 2020-2022.