1. Med shot, doctor talking to a mother with her child in the hospital ward
2. Close-up, doctor‘s hand examining the baby with a stethoscope
3. Med shot, doctor speaking to the mother
4. Close-up, face of the mother
5. Close-up, doctor’s hand examining the baby’s abdomen
6. Med shot, doctor and another doctor speaking to the mother with the baby
7. Close-up, baby crying
8. Med shot, doctor and another doctor speaking to the mother with the baby
9. Close up, baby sucking his finger
10. Pan left, women with babies in the hospital ward
11. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Dr. Zemplyanuhina, Doctor:
“Some mothers are still afraid. They are scared to go far from home, even to go to the hospital. Because they are afraid that something might start and they would not be able to return home. It is not that visible but the fear is there. Spontaneous opposition, spontaneous fear based on interethnic opposition is sensible.”
12. Med shot, women with babies in the hospital ward
13. Close-up, a child drinking water
14. Med shot, Doctor 2 helping mothers
15. Close-up, child being examined
16. Close-up, UNICEF staff speaking
17. Close-up, doctors talking
18. Wide shot, in the corridor of the hospital
19. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Dr. Zemplyanuhina. Doctor:
“We do not differentiate people in regard to their ethnicity. They all come to us.”
20. Pan right, doctors in room
21. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Local Doctor:
“People ask me if I am afraid to go to work because I am Uzbek, but I tell them that I do not feel that. People do not believe me and say, ‘We’ve heard that they are firing the Uzbeks from their work.’ But it is not like that. No one was fired. I believe that it will pass. It is just temporary. We need some time for people to recover and hopefully it will never repeat again.”
22. Close up, another doctor listening
23. Various shots, doctors’ meeting
24. Wide shot, mothers in the hospital ward
25. Close-up, mother giving water to her baby
26. Close-up, baby drinking
27. Wide shot, mother with her baby walking in the hospital corridor

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Storyline

A sudden outbreak of children suffering from diarrhoea is spreading in the southern part of Kyrgyzstan. Seven pediatricians from Bishkek are providing essential training to local medical workers to help tackle the escalation of the disease. However, despite efforts to alert and inform parents on diarrhoea, its risks and how to prevent it, hospitals are almost always empty.

SOUNDBITE (Russian) Dr. Zemplyanuhina. Doctor:
“Some mothers are still afraid. They are scared to go far from home, even to go to the hospital. Because they are afraid that something might start and they would not be able to return home. It is not that visible but the fear is there. Spontaneous opposition, spontaneous fear based on interethnic opposition is sensible.”

Doctors from Bishkek have been treating children at local clinics. And when parents are reluctant to go to the hospital, they do in-home consultations.

These doctors have now returned home, but UNICEF and its partners are making sure that medical service to people is still available and performed by local doctors.

In addition to the care provided, clinics in the Osh region are putting an emphasis on attending to all patients without any ethnic discrimination or other types of prejudice.

SOUNDBITE (Russian) Dr. Zemplyanuhina, Doctor:
“We do not differentiate people in regard to their ethnicity. They all come to us.”

SOUNDBITE (Russian) Local Doctor:
“People ask me if I am afraid to go to work because I am Uzbek, but I tell them that I do not feel that. People do not believe me and say: “We’ve heard that they are firing the Uzbeks from their work”. But it is not like that. No one was fired. I believe that it will pass. It is just temporary. We need some time for people to recover and hopefully it will never repeat again.”

Treating a child with diarrhoea depends on how quickly parents seek medical help. Diarrhoea is one of the leading causes of illness for children under five in Kyrgyzstan.

Children in rural areas had episodes of diarrhoea 1.5 times more often than children in urban areas in 2009. The highest frequency of cases occurred in children from six months to nearly two years of age because they were not given Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) – nearly 80 percent of the children with diarrhea.

But as the biggest challenge to life saving treatments is fear and rebuilding harmony in the community is key to healthier Kyrgyz children.