DUSHANBE, April 13, 2013, Asia-Plus -- The U.S. State Department, through Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere), has delivered over $ 15 million worth of medicine to Tajikistan.  Hospitals and medical institutions throughout Tajikistan will receive the medications free of charge.

On Friday April 12, U.S. Ambassador Susan M. Elliott participated in the handover ceremony at the Republican Clinical Center of Endocrinology in Dushanbe.

According to the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, private U.S. companies and U.S. subsidiaries of international pharmaceutical companies, including Eli Lilly, Mass Bio, GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Hospira, and Allergan donated the medicine, and the U.S. Department of State provided transportation.

Project HOPE, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, selected hospitals most in need of medical aid and coordinated the distribution of the supplies.

Project HOPE is an international health care organization that has been active in Tajikistan since 2002.  Project HOPE has provided a total of $350 million worth of medicine and medical supplies to Tajikistan.  Since 1992, the American people have provided over $1 billion in programs and humanitarian aid that support Tajikistan’s democratic institutions, health care, education, and economic growth.