The overall goal of the partnership was to improve and develop post-graduate programs, research, and service functions at the KSPH and to build its capacity to better serve Kazakhstan and to collaborate with the other Central Asian states in similar endeavors.

Specific objectives:

• Increase the availability and sustainability of post-graduate programs (degree and certificate) in public health and health care administration offered by the KSPH and meeting international standards.
• Increase the capacity of KSPH to offer doctoral-level education in health services research.
• Increase the availability of courses for nursing administrators within degree and certificate programs at the KSPH.
• Increase the knowledge and teaching skills of KSPH faculty in subject areas related to public health and health care administration.
• Increase the capacity of KSPH faculty to develop and conduct research projects and consulting services; strengthen research and consulting service capacity and identify new funding resources for sustainability.
• Increase the capacity of the KSPH’s information and communications infrastructure to support its education, research and other service objectives.
• Increase networking and information exchange among KSPH faculty with their colleagues in Central Asia and the US through participation in international conferences and establishment of an Association of Public Health in Kazakhstan.
• Increase the availability of peer-reviewed information on health services research in Central Asia by publishing articles in the Journal of Central Asian Health Services Research.

• In April, representatives from the two new health management education (HME) partnerships in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan participated in a study tour to three countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The trip included visits to AIHA partners in the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia. The study tour enabled NIS partners to share ideas and experiences with their CEE colleagues, to gain familiarity with AIHA and the HME partnership model, and to begin to plan the framework for their new partnerships. During the study tour, presentations and discussion covered three main topics: the country's health system and health care reform; health professions education (particularly medical and management education) and the specific curricula and activities of the AIHA partner institutions; and the role, activities and outcomes of the HME partnerships.
• In July, three VCU faculty members visited the KSPH for an overview and tour of the Kazakhstan School of Public Health, meetings with key KSPH faculty members, and site visits to local hospitals. At the end of the initial assessment visit, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the rector of the KSPH, the U.S. partnership coordinator and AIHA’s regional director.

• In February, AIHA was the recipient of a large donation of medical and nursing books valued at over $1.5 million dollars. This donation, consisting of 48,000 books, was sent to the Kyrgyz State Medical Academy and the Kazakhstan School of Public Health. The books were used in the schools’ medical libraries and elsewhere in the countries.
• Two Kazakhstan partners joined their colleague from Richmond at the annual conferences of the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) and the Association for Health Services Research, held in Los Angeles in June. The conferences provided an excellent opportunity for the partners to build their knowledge of current trends in health management and to network with their counterparts from around the globe.
• With support from AIHA, the Rector of the Kazakhstan School of Public Health attended the Annual Meeting of the Regional WHO Office for Europe. During the September meeting in Copenhagen, he was elected to serve on the Executive Committee of WHO. This resulted in the first high-level representation within WHO for the CAR region.

• In April, the Almaty partners hosted the second meeting of the Association of Public Health. They discussed short-, mid- and long-term goals for the Association and developed and approved its two-year workplan. The Association, which includes about 200 members across Kazakhstan, is devoted to promoting inter-agency cooperation in health care issues and educating health care specialists in public health.
• In May, KSPH organized a three-day “International Scientific Conference: Strategy of Kazakhstan Health System Development in the Twenty-First Century” in Almaty. The conference was chaired by the Health Care Agency Director and was attended by more than 250 health care professionals including NGO representatives, government officials, scientists, and representatives of pharmaceutical and trade companies. As an outcome of this conference, KSPH produced a five-year strategic agenda for the health care system in Kazakhstan and submitted it to the Health Care Agency (which subsequently became the Ministry of Health) so that it could be published along with the proceedings of the conference.
• The inaugural issue of the Journal of Central Asian Health Services Research was published by the Almaty/Richmond partnership. The issue includes articles on such topics as health care financing, measuring efficiency of health care systems, estimating health care expenses of a population, the British model of general practice, and training and retraining of health care professionals in the Central Asian Republics.
• The Kazakhstan School of Public Health received approval from the Ministry of Education to offer a new doctoral degree program in Public Health and Healthcare.

• In June, the Kazakhstan School of Public Health (KSPH) sponsored the second annual International Conference on Health Care Reform in Kazakhstan. During the conference, KSPH celebrated its fifth anniversary.
• In November, Kazakhstan School of Public Health (KSPH) faculty members attended the 10th Annual Meeting of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA) in Dresden, Germany, with a view to selecting a partner among the European associations and presenting a grant proposal to EUPHA.

• In June, the Kazakhstan School of Public Health sponsored the Third International Conference on Healthcare Strategy. The US coordinator participated in this conference as well as a partnership graduation ceremony during which eight KSPH faculty were awarded training certificates from the US partnership institution, Virginia Commonwealth University.
• In September, KSPH organized the Central Asian Regional Health Promotion Conference that was held in Almaty. This conference, a collaborative effort with TACIS (Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States), was attended by 32 administrators and practitioners from the Central Asian Republics.

Faculty and Curriculum Development

• With support from the Ministry of Education, KSPH initiated a new doctoral program in Public Health and Healthcare. The program, the first of its kind in the country, has the capacity to enroll up to five candidates each year; candidates must possess an undergraduate medical degree.
• Partners developed a new Master of Health Administration/Master of Public Health program, creating the curriculum, course syllabi and teaching materials for the 26-course program. By the end of 2002, 20 students had graduated from the program and 14 more were enrolled.
• The partners developed a new master’s degree in applied epidemiology.
• The partners improved the content of available short courses and developed new courses. From 2000 to 2002, over 2,500 people participated in the courses, with over 250 from other Central Asian countries.
• KSPH faculty received training in numerous content areas related to the School’s curricula and in participatory teaching techniques and other methodologies. They incorporated the knowledge and experiences gained through the partnership into their educational efforts and to shared the benefits of the partnership with the broader scientific community within Kazakhstan.
• The partners at KSPH initiated a distance education program. By observing VCU’s distance learning program in health administration, the partners gained knowledge relevant to classroom and Internet-based applications. Preliminary courses were developed in management and economics, epidemiology and biomedical statistics; and an on-line program was offered to participants of short-term certificate programs near the end of 2003.

Research and Consulting

• KSPH partners sought continued funding for research projects from governmental and international organizations. They developed a health survey and a food safety project with the World Health Organization (WHO); a field epidemiology masters program in Central Asia with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a one-year course on family medicine with the British Council; two research projects sponsored by the Kazakhstan government-- “Monitoring and Evaluation of the Reform Process in Kazakhstan” and “Health Economic Problems of Designing and Implementing Compulsory Health Insurance.” By the end of 2002, eight research projects had been submitted for funding, including two joint projects with other universities. Six of the eight received funding.
• KSPH was selected as a meeting site for the Kazakhstan Research Council for a period of two years. A June 2002 conference took place in Almaty with the theme “Emerging Issues in Health Economics, Revitalization of Health Insurance and Health Care Financing in Kazakhstan.” KSPH partners involved both local and international experts and received conference financing from various sources.

Professional Development

• With the help of US partners, KSPH faculty conducted courses in nursing management, policy and management, and planning and organization of scientific research in healthcare for doctors and nurses from various regions of the country.
• Healthcare professionals from different parts of Kazakhstan were trained in health policy and management, epidemiology in public health, health economics and finance, disease prevention, healthy lifestyles and health promotion, and child and adolescent hygiene.
• In 2002, KSPH offered a special series of seminars on healthcare management and economics for 160 staff of the Kazakhstan Ministry of Health.
• Partners created the Journal of Central Asian Health Services Research (JCAHSR), which was officially registered in Kazakhstan and endorsed by all Central Asian Republics. The first issue was published in September 2001 and additional issues have followed. The journal is produced in Russian with English abstracts.
• Partners established a national association of public health specialists.