The governor of Almaty Bauyrzhan Baybek and the director of the European Bureau of the World Health Organization Zhuzhanna Yakab discussed the prospects for further cooperation on the fields of the Healthy Cities European Network of Mayors summit in the city.
During the conversation, Zhuzhanna Yakab highly appreciated the level of WHO’s interaction with Almaty and, in general, with Kazakhstan, noting the positive results achieved both in terms of health indicators and in modernizing the healthcare system.
“Improving the comfort of the urban environment, the development of public transport, the creation of infrastructure for cyclists and for sports activities directly leads to improved health of citizens. Since studies show that proper urban planning can reduce the death rate from cancer and cardiovascular diseases by an average of 25%. The Almaty experience can be useful not only for Kazakhstan, but also for many cities in the European region,”the WHO European Bureau Director emphasized.
According to her, the Almaty Declaration of Primary Health Care adopted 40 years ago is relevant to this day, having played an important role at the international level. WHO plans to expand collaboration with the city and will continue to work to help improve its population.
“The Missive of the Head of State fully reflects the goals of sustainable urban development, which determine the further development of the country. Creating a comfortable and environmentally friendly urban environment, ensuring high quality education and health care following the example of OECD countries is our key priority. We are interested in the experience of other cities in solving such problems and, above all, in creating a high-quality, highly developed medical field, ”said Bauyrzhan Baybek.
On the margins of the summit, the governor of Almaty also held a number of bilateral meetings, including with the governor of the Vologda region of the Russian Federation, Oleg Kuvshinnikov, as well as with the leadership of the French Rennes and the Netherlands Utrecht.