Tag Archives: health

Turkmenistan introduces pre-marriage HIV test

APRIL 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – In an effort to combat the spread of HIV, Turkmenistan introduced mandatory tests for couples seeking to obtain a marriage licence. By making it a requirement, the Turkmen government is effectively banning HIV-positive people from getting married. Human rights groups have said that this is a violation of personal choice and freedom. Turkmenistan discloses little data on HIV infections.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

Uzbek health sector receives funding

MARCH 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kuwait Fund for Arab Development said it had agreed to give a $24m loan to finance buying urology equipment for hospitals in Uzbekistan. The Kuwait Fund is sponsored by the Kuwaiti government. Kuwait has, over the past couple of years, developed more interest in Central Asia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

China gives up Kazakh prisoners

MARCH 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – China handed over four prisoners jailed for drug trafficking over to Kazakhstan, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. The deal, whereby the unnamed prisoners serve out their sentences in Kazakhstan, underlines the close relations between Kazakhstan and China.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 271, published on March 11 2016)

Helicopter crash kills 5 in southern Kazakhstan

JAN. 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A helicopter carrying a sick child to hospital crashed in a canyon in southern Kazakhstan killing all five people aboard, media reported quoting the Kazakh emergency services. It was unclear what caused the crash. Kazakhstan has a poor safety record for helicopters. A few days earlier another two-person helicopter had also crashed in southern Kazakhstan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

Swine flu deaths rise in Armenia

JAN. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s health ministry said that 18 people had died in the past two months from the H1N1 strain of swine flu, media reported, up from an earlier death toll of 10. The health ministry denied that the deaths had reached epidemic proportions but neighbouring countries have also started to report deaths linked to swine flu.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)

First Armenian leader gets ill

JAN. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the first leader of post-Soviet Armenia, has been flown to the United States for emergency treatment on what local media have described as a cancer. Mr Ter-Petrosyan, 71, was president of Armenia between 1991 and 1998. He has since become a vocal opponent of the government and was blamed for whipping up street protests in 2008 that culminated in police shooting dead at least 10 people.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Turkmen officials burn cigarettes

JAN. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen officials burnt piles of cigarettes in another indication that the reclusive state is on the brink of an outright ban on smoking, the AP news agency reported. Earlier this month, AFP reported that officials had told storekeepers to remove cigarettes from their shelves. President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is known to hate smoking.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Turkmenistan starts to ban cigarettes

JAN. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen officials have started pulling cigarettes off shops’ shelves in what appears to be a draconian attempt to effectively ban smoking altogether.

In Ashgabat, an AFP correspondent interviewed a shopkeeper who said that officials had recently ordered him to stop selling cigarette or face a heavy fine.

“(They) came to our shop recently and forced us to remove cigarettes from the shelves, threatening us with huge fines,” 34-year-old Bairam Saryev said.

Turkmenistan’s President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is known for his eccentricity. He is a former dentist and hates smoking. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has praised his efforts to discourage smokers by banning smoking in all public buildings, parks and offices as well as cigarette advertising.

Last year WHO said only 8% of Turkmenistan’s population smoked, the lowest of any country.

The Turkmen government has not published any official announcement on whether it will ban smoking altogether.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Editorial: Turkmenistan’s final puff

JAN. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – By all accounts, Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, the president of Turkmenistan, is a very particular man.

He likes to be a winner, making sure that he wins horse races held in Turkmenistan each year. He likes, and appreciates, statues of himself which have started appearing in Ashgabat. He likes, far more than his predecessor, foreign travel.

He doesn’t like poor performing officials and he especially doesn’t like smoking. At least that’s the impression he has given.

Mr Berdymukhamedov has taken it upon himself to eradicate smoking, it appears. According to news reports he has banned smoking in almost all public places and has stopped shops from selling cigarettes.

This is, surely, a shame as lighting up a ciggie at the end of a day is a simple pleasure that had been available in Turkmenistan, a country not known for its personal freedoms.

Still, there may be one upside for smokers in Turkmenistan. The illegal cigarette behind the bike shed may come come back in vogue.

ENDS

(Editorial from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

11 die from swine flu in Armenia

JAN. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – At least 11 people have died of H1N1 Swine Flu in Armenia, media reported quoting the ministry of health. The ministry of health said that this did not equate to an epidemic, although there are another 80 people in prison suffering from the flu. Swine flu worries governments around the world because it can spread and has previously triggered epidemics.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)