Overall, the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, with significant leadership and expertise from the Ministry of Health, is conducting a significant amount of work to protect and strengthen national public health security, including accounting for innumerable lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO Joint External Evaluation (JEE) team appreciated that several new laws and ministerial orders were enacted from 2019–2022 to respond to COVID-19, with a new, comprehensive public health law and updated terms of reference being discussed in parliament at the time of the external evaluation visit. In combination, the emerging set of legal mechanisms discussed with counterparts from various ministries promises to significantly modernize the entire public health emergency preparedness and response system. Information provided in the Self-Assessment Report and during meetings with national counterparts provided ample evidence of active involvement of numerous ministries with the legislative body and president's office; there appears to be a strong, concerted national effort to achieve public health goals and ultimately meet Kyrgyzstan's obligations under the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005.

The JEE team would like to express its appreciation to the Republic of Uzbekistan for volunteering for a Joint External Evaluation. This act shows high levels of commitment, foresight and leadership at senior levels of government that will be critical to success in building and maintaining Uzbekistan’s core capacities under the International Health Regulations.