DUSHANBE, May 13, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- A medicine family conference is opening in Dushanbe today.

Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Ms. Fotima Yoqubova, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health (MoH), said the event was staged by a MoH under support of the World Bank’s Community and Basic Health Project.

The main objective of the conference is in discussing problems of family medicine in Tajikistan and preparing a plan for further development of it in the country.

The conference participants include senior representatives from the MoH, international consultants as well as skilled specialists and experts from all regions of Tajikistan, Yoqubova said.  According to her, the conference will also consider implementation of a grant agreement between the Government of Tajikistan and the International Association for Family Medicine Development as well as development of the primary health care (PHC) infrastructure and improvement of system of training of family doctors.

According to the MoH, more than 1,500 family doctors have been trained in Tajikistan so far while the country needs some 5,000 family doctors.