This report, which was prepared under the Asian Vaccination Initiative, assesses thecurrent and future financing needs of the national immunization programs of Kazakhstanand the Kyrgyz Republic.The assessment was made to assist the Governments of those countries in planning futureprogram investments by providing an analysis of the following:• Economic, political, and demographic background of each country and the healthcontext within which its immunization program is operating• Structure and performance of the immunization program, including:– coverage– immunization laws and regulations– management capacity– vaccine procurement and supply– service delivery– surveillance systems– quality assurance• Costs and future financing requirements of the immunization programA coherent analysis of financial requirements, available resources, and financing gaps isan important aspect of medium-term planning and, therefore, program sustainability. Methodology The information and data for this report were collected between October and December2000. An international consultant spent two weeks each in Kazakhstan and the KyrgyzRepublic and collaborated with a national consultant in each country for the assessments.In Kazakhstan, the consultants interviewed representatives of the Agency for Healthcare,Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy, republican and subnational Sanitary Epidemio-logical Stations (SESs), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and World HealthOrganization (WHO) in the cities of Astana and Almaty and the oblasts of Karaganda andKozylorda. In the Kyrgyz Republic, they interviewed representatives of the Ministry ofHealth, Ministry of Finance, republican and subnational SESs, UNICEF, and WHO. A list ofthe people interviewed is in Appendix 1