Senators at a plenary session of the chamber on April 25, 2024, ratified the Agreement on Cooperation of the CIS Member States in Prevention and Response to Emergencies in Public Healthcare. The document is now set to be signed by the president.
Senate deputy Ainur Argynbekova noted that the agreement is aimed at strengthening the legal framework for the development of a collective system to counter biological threats.
"The provisions of the agreement regulate the procedure for assisting CIS countries in eliminating emergencies, as well as provide for the establishment of specialized anti-epidemic brigades and define the main areas of work and the conditions for their use in CIS countries," she added.
The specialized anti-epidemic brigades will:
- Identify pathogens of infectious diseases;
- Participate in carrying out anti-epidemic measures to localize and eliminate epidemic foci of dangerous infectious diseases;
- Provide advisory, methodological, and practical assistance to medical organizations of the requesting country.
The specialized anti-epidemic brigades will be mobilized based on:
- Emergencies that cannot be eliminated by the resources of a single CIS member state and only upon the request of that state;
- Emergencies with cross-border implications requiring coordinated actions with the countries whose territories are affected by the emergencies.
The agreement also addresses issues such as the movement of anti-epidemic brigades to the emergency zone, priority passage through the state border, transit of equipment and consumables, payment of personnel, insurance, catering, and site security.
On April 25, the senators also ratified the Treaty between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on allied relations.
