India has handed over a 50-bed India-Tajikistan Friendship Hospital (ITFH) to Tajikistan along with the entire complement of medical equipment, medicines, stores and support equipment, including an operation theatre, X-Ray machines, laboratories, critical care ambulances and administrative vehicles, an official said on Saturday.

It may be recalled that the ITFH was renovated by the Indian government and inaugurated in October 2014 based on an MoU signed between both sides in January 2013.

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“The hospital has rendered free-of-cost valuable medical services for the last eight years to the armed forces and civilian populace of Tajikistan based on technical support and financial assistance from the government of India,” the official said.

Presently, the ITFH has an array of medical specialties including ENT, surgery, gynecology, medicine, pediatrics and dental departments. It has provided medical support to more than 1,00,000 patients over these years, including performing more than 2,000 surgeries in the last two years.

A team of Indian Army doctors and medical staff have provided various medical services to Tajik nationals and simultaneously trained numerous Tajik doctors and medical staff. Over 42 tonnes of medicines have been sent to ITFH in the last eight years, said the official.

Apart from the ITFH, the Indian government has also provided medical support in other forms to Tajikistan.

“India provided two million doses of oral polio vaccine through UNICEF in 2010 after the outbreak of polio in south-west Tajikistan. In March 2018, India gifted 10 ambulances to various regions of Tajikistan,” the official said.

In May 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, India provided 50,000 HCQ tablets and 100,000 paracetamol tablets to Tajikistan. In 2021, approximately 700,000 Covishield vaccines were supplied to Tajikistan, the official added.