WHO Regional Director: Georgia's Response to COVID-19 is Excellent

Dr. Hans Kluge, Regional Director for Europe of the World Health Organization, is paying a five-day working visit to Georgia. This is his first official visit to the country. 

Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze said at a briefing on December 17 that she would agree with Hans Klugge on a further strategy in terms of the COVID pandemic and discuss planned reforms in the healthcare system.

Today, on December 18, a joint briefing of Hans Kluge and Ekaterine Tikaradze was held at the Ministry of Health.

"The response to Covid-19 is excellent in your country and it is managed by both the Minister and the Ministry of Health," Hans Kluge stated at the briefing. 

"This is my first visit to Georgia as the Regional Director of the World Health Organization. My visit to Georgia has three purposes. The first is to work together on Covid-19 issues with health care workers and government officials. The second is to agree on how we will work on health care reform issues in general. I would like to congratulate the Minister, despite the fact that you are in a pandemic, the work on access to universal health care in Georgia continues. The third goal is to strengthen the work of the WHO Georgia office. From what I see, the response to COVID-19 is excellent in your country and it is managed by both the Minister and the Ministry of Health. It's because there was involvement from all sides, both scientists and society. This participation was strong and active.

"I saw a number of innovative approaches in Georgia, such as "fever centers", online clinics and Covid-hotels, which can serve as an example for other countries," he pointed out. 

By Ana Dumbadze