The forum aims to inform key medical decision makers about current challenges in the field of human resources for health care, to discuss possible solutions, and to strengthen the role of professional associations in the healthcare system.

The Forum will be attended by representatives of the parliament, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Embassy of Switzerland, medical professional public organisations, and doctors; heads of National Professional Associations from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will be guests of honour.

The forum will establish regional cooperation with national professional medical associations in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

The event is organized in close cooperation with the Swiss funded Medical Education Reforms project in the Kyrgyz Republic. The third phase of the project further develops medical education reforms for improving the capacity and quality of health care training. This includes the reinforcement of Professional Medical Associations and their role in medical education as well as representing their members, health professionals in Kyrgyzstan.

This competition is a countrywide action to cover male population with primary health care services to prevent or early diagnose noncommunicable diseases. School children had to bring male relatives over 18 years old to their local health facilities. In total more than 127,000 men have received a consultation.

Noncommunicable diseases are chronic, slowly progressing diseases. These include cardiovascular diseases, cancer, lung diseases and diabetes. Every second man in Kyrgyzstan smokes, drinks alcohol and/or is overweight and has high blood pressure. Men are at greater risk and statistics show that the rate of men going to health facilities is low, while mortality from noncommunicable diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases, is high.

According to the competition results, the Swiss project has awarded the following prizes to the schools:

• 11 refrigerators for school canteens
• 6 electric stoves with oven
• 17 interactive whiteboards
• 17 laptops
• 17 projectors
• 15 microwaves
• 5 sets of sports equipment
• 12 sets of sports equipment kits

The competition was timed to coincide with the "Be Responsible!" campaign, announced by the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic in February 2023 to identify risk factors of noncommunicable diseases among men. Special appointment hours for men were established, which helped to increase the availability of medical services.

The project “Effective Management and Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases in Kyrgyzstan”, financed by the Government of Switzerland, is aimed to improve the health and wellbeing of the Kyrgyz population in rural areas through equitable access to quality primary care services and promotion of healthier lifestyles. The first phase of the project covered Chui, Naryn, Talas and Issyk-Kul regions. Starting from July 2022 the project is implementing its activities in Osh, Jalal-Abad, Batken regions as well as in Bishkek and Osh cities.