On 20 November 2023, in the capital of Kyrgyzstan – Bishkek, a Round Table on “Improving access to medical abortion services through telemedicine in Kyrgyzstan: discussing the results of the pilot study and developing an action plan for its continuation” was held.

The pilot study was carried out with the support of RHTC, the director of the organisation, Rodica Comendant, was present at this event where the results already obtained were discussed, as well as the actions to be taken in order to achieve a positive change.

The welcome speeches at the event were given by the representative of the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic and Bozgorpoeva Baktygul Battalovna, Director of the Kyrgyz Alliance for Family Planning (KAFP). During the Round Table, Raisa Asylbasheva Beishenalievna, Senior Specialist of the Department of Health Care Organisation and Drug Policy of the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, presented important information on the topic: “Safe abortion in Kyrgyzstan: current situation and problems”.

Bozgorpoeva Baktugul, director of KAFP, spoke about the importance and the conduct of this project “Pilot Study on Telemedicine in Kyrgyzstan”, mentioning that the results of the formative study demonstrated that women seeking abortion services face significant barriers to the realization of their reproductive rights in Kyrgyzstan. Bozgorpoeva Baktugul also highlighted that medical abortion through telemedicine offers an opportunity to provide remote services to women living in rural areas, hard-to-reach areas and many other vulnerable groups.

Dr. Rodica Comendant, director of CIDSR, gave a presentation on “Clinical Studies and their Results”. In her presentation, Dr. Comendant highlighted that medical abortion through telemedicine, carried out using a stable and structured protocol, is safe and effective; women also demonstrated that they can safely follow instructions received remotely, showing that MAT is feasible for women throughout Kyrgyzstan – concluding that Medical Abortion through Telemedicine can improve access to MA services, including and especially in times of crisis.

At the Round Table Omurzakova Zhibek (Family Medicine Centre №1(CSM), Bishkek) and Davletova Ainura (Jalal-Abad Regional Centre for Human Reproductive Health Protection, Jalal-Abad) also presented information, the representatives reported on the “Experience of doctors participating in the clinical study”.

Beneficiaries from various vulnerable groups participated in this study: families with children with disabilities, low-income families, families with many children, single mothers, unemployed people. People with pre-existing medical conditions were also targeted: epilepsy, cerebral palsy, urolithiasis, with uterine scars after caesarean section and non-developing pregnancies.

After all participants had presented updated and relevant information on the conduct of this pilot study, working group sessions were held with discussions, questions and answers, clarifications and comments. At the end it was decided that it is necessary to prepare an action plan for the future in order to continue this effort on the use of telemedicine, especially for the medical abortion service in Kyrgyzstan, but also in neighbouring countries.

In order to get an insight into all the information discussed during this Round Table, we recommend you to watch the conference registration on the ZOOM platform, and you can also get information from the documents attached below.

• Передовая практика использования телемедицины для оказания услуг аборта, Royal College of obstetrics and Gynecology
• Улучшение доступа к услугам медикаментозного аборта с помощью телемедицины в Кыргызстане, Пилотное исследование, Родика Комендант
• Пилотное исследование по телемедицине в Кыргызстане, Бозгорпоева Бактугул
• Опыт врачей-участников клинического исследования, Джалал-Абад, Давлетова Айнура
• Опыт врачей-участников клинического исследования
  ЦСМ№1 Бишкек, Омурзакова Жибек