Central Asia Field Epidemiology Training Program
Program overview
Central Asia Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP CAR) was established in 2003 to cover five countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan). The program is run regionally from Almaty. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have been active since program initiation. As of 2021, all countries are actively involved with FETP resident training except for Turkmenistan. In 2019 CDC partnered with the Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University to implement the advanced FETP in a university setting and offer a master’s degree to advanced FETP residents completing program requirements. In 2021, the basic (Frontline) program was initiated in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Additional Frontline programs are planned for Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
Achievements
The FETP CAR program has supported 18 cohorts of the FETP advanced program with a total 176 healthcare professional trained. Of the 126 health professionals that graduated from the advanced two-year program, 85 percent continue to hold influential positions in their government’s ministry of health. FETP residents and graduates have supported over 300 outbreak investigations. They have led a variety of high impact public health investigations on several diseases, COVID-19, anthrax, botulism, Congo-Crimean hemorrhagic fever, leptospirosis, poliomyelitis, tularemia, and typhoid. In 2021, the first cohort of the Frontline FETP program in Uzbekistan was instituted and 17 participants graduated.