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Transplantation

Uzbekistan Performs First Simultaneous Liver-Kidney Transplant

Uzbekistan has performed its first simultaneous liver and kidney transplant on a single patient. The operation was carried out at the National Medical Center, the Zamon news program reported. The procedure marks a further expansion of transplant medicine in Uzbekistan, where hospitals have introduced increasingly complex liver and kidney procedures in recent years. The patient, a woman from Pakhtachi district in Samarkand region, had suffered from liver disease for eight years. After contracting hepatitis C, she developed cirrhosis and later kidney failure. For the past four years, she had regularly undergone hemodialysis, a procedure that filters the blood and partially replaces kidney function. She had previously been advised to seek transplantation abroad, including in India, but the procedure did not go ahead because no suitable donor was found and her family could not cover the cost. Uzbek doctors concluded that transplanting only one of the organs would not be sufficient and decided to perform both procedures during a single operation. Simultaneous liver-kidney transplantation is used in patients with severe disease affecting both organs and is significantly more complex than a single-organ transplant. Doctors must not only perform two transplants during the same operation but also closely monitor the function of both organs afterward. Transplant medicine in Uzbekistan has advanced markedly in recent years. The country now performs both liver and kidney transplants, including procedures that until recently would often have required treatment abroad. In April 2026, doctors at the Republican Specialized Scientific and Practical Medical Center for Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation carried out a kidney transplant between a donor and recipient with incompatible blood groups. Before the operation, antibodies that could cause rejection were removed from the recipient’s blood. Pediatric transplantation is also developing. In December 2025, Uzbekistan performed its first liver transplant on a seven-month-old infant at the National Children’s Medical Center. The child’s mother was the donor. Access to post-transplant treatment has also expanded. Transplant recipients under medical follow-up in Uzbekistan are entitled to free immunosuppressive medicines needed to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ. Regulations also set out procedures for preparing living donors and recipients for surgery, as well as rehabilitation and subsequent medical monitoring. The latest operation adds another highly complex transplant option to those now available domestically. For patients with simultaneous severe liver and kidney disease, treatment abroad is no longer the only option. Hepatitis C, which led to cirrhosis in this patient, can remain without noticeable symptoms for years. Chronic infection can cause cirrhosis and liver cancer. According to the World Health Organization, modern direct-acting antiviral medicines can cure more than 95% of people with hepatitis C.

SCO Summit

Kyrgyzstan Hosts SCO Summit as Bloc Marks 25 Years

Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's ten member states are due in Bishkek on September 1 for the final summit of Kyrgyzstan's 2025-2026 chairmanship. The meeting is expected to produce a Bishkek Declaration marking the SCO's 25th anniversary, alongside thematic statements and other decisions. For Kyrgyzstan, the gathering is more than a turn in the organization's rotating chairmanship. As many as 21 heads of state are expected in the country during the week, according to presidential spokesman Askat Alagozov. The summit coincides with Kyrgyzstan's Independence Day and the August 31 opening of the World Nomad Games. The member-state session will bring together Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, with President Sadyr Japarov as host. Chinese President Xi Jinping will also make a state visit, giving the summit a substantial bilateral program alongside the formal meetings. Kyrgyzstan's Diplomatic Week The summit comes less than three months after Kyrgyzstan was elected to the UN Security Council for 2027-2028, its first term on the body. Hosting the SCO gives Japarov an opportunity to reinforce that diplomatic profile before the Security Council term begins in January. The SCO's foreign ministers reiterated in July that Central Asia is the organization's core and backed a larger role for it in the region's security and economic development. Their statement also praised Kyrgyzstan's chairmanship and confirmed that the Council of Heads of State and SCO Plus meetings would take place in Bishkek on August 31 and September 1. What Cholpon Ata Already Settled At their July 24 meeting in Cholpon Ata, SCO foreign ministers approved the draft declaration and accompanying documents as a basis for the summit. The language is therefore largely negotiated before the leaders arrive, although the final package can still change. The ministerial statement gives a clearer indication of the political agenda, supporting a multipolar world order and rejecting unilateral sanctions. It also calls for more intra-SCO trade. Terrorism, separatism, extremism, drug trafficking, and transnational organized crime remain its stated security priorities. The statement says the SCO is entering a period of institutional reform, including changes to its legal framework and cooperation procedures. A Development Bank Still Taking Shape Economic cooperation will occupy a significant part of the summit. In Tianjin last year, interested member states reached political consensus to establish an SCO Development Bank. The institution is not yet operational. At the fourth consultation meeting in Shenzhen in June, delegates discussed its key elements and the next stage of negotiations. A timetable or capital commitments announced in Bishkek would move the proposal beyond its current design stage. The bank could eventually provide another source of finance for infrastructure, but its structure and membership remain unsettled. Currency diversification will also remain part of the discussion. The 2024 Astana Declaration called for gradual growth in the use of national currencies for settlements among interested members. Sanctions on Russia and Iran have increased the political importance of that effort, although the SCO has not created a common payment system. SCO Plus, but Not...

Opinion

From Lenin to Kenesary: What Kazakhstan’s Renamed Streets Say About Power

In July 2026, a new constitutional law on Kazakhstan’s administrative-territorial structure came into force. It retained a layered process for changing place names: local authorities must consider residents’ views, while onomastic commissions review proposals before final decisions are made. The previous legal framework dated to 1993. Replacing it with a constitutional law did not dismantle the machinery of onomastic policy but consolidated the roles of public consultation, local government and official commissions. The law formalized a system built over three decades, during which thousands of streets were renamed but the country’s urban map changed at markedly different speeds. Kazakhstan’s experience is often described as a simple substitution of Lenin with Abai and communist terminology with the symbols of independence. The geography of renaming suggests something more precise: a centralized nation-building project whose reach depends on local demography and the political cost of opposition. Research documenting 6,832 cases across 37 cities between 1991 and 2019 shows the disparity. Five cities accounted for 72% of all recorded renamings: Shymkent had 1,767, Almaty 1,064, Astana 860, Aktobe 783, and Kyzylorda 470. Pavlodar recorded 34, Petropavl 28, Oskemen 23, and Rudny only two. Raw totals partly reflect city size and urban expansion, but the study’s statistical analysis identified both city status and ethnic composition as significant factors. Renaming occurred less frequently where the share of Slavic residents was higher, a pattern the author interpreted as evidence of greater state caution in ethnically mixed cities. The procedure helps explain why a national symbolic agenda produced such local variation. Proposals move through public consultation, local representative and executive bodies, and onomastic commissions. These stages do not guarantee that public preferences will determine the outcome, but they create points at which opposition can slow or redirect a proposal. Astana, extensively rebuilt after becoming the capital in 1997, could remake its urban identity quickly. Established industrial cities in the north and east moved more carefully. The contrast between what disappeared and what survived is equally revealing. Explicitly ideological names associated with Lenin, Marx, Engels, and the October Revolution became far less common, while Almaty retained streets named after Soviet scientists, writers, and figures connected to Kazakhstan’s development. The authorities did not treat every Soviet reference alike. They separated communist ideology from cultural and intellectual contribution, producing selective de-Sovietization rather than wholesale symbolic purification. Municipal practice further complicates a purely nationalist reading. Official data from Kyzylorda for 2025 lists 874 city streets: 497 named after individuals, 270 after localities and water features, and 107 carrying conventional names. This snapshot does not identify which streets were renamed, but it shows that the present naming system encompasses historical figures, local geography, and ordinary municipal conventions. In the expanding Arai-Shugyla neighborhood, seven previously unnamed streets received names drawn from localities and water features. Onomastic policy was therefore organizing new urban space as well as redistributing historical visibility. Naming new streets and replacing old ones use the same administrative machinery, although their political consequences are not always comparable. The politics became clearer when...

Natural Disasters

At Least One Kazakh Tourist Unaccounted For in Nepal Floods

Kazakh officials are working to locate at least one Kazakh tourist who is unaccounted for following flash floods and mudslides in Nepal that killed hundreds of people and caused widespread destruction. A Kazakh woman was part of a tourist group in the area affected by the disaster near the border between Nepal and China’s Tibet region, the Kazakhstani state news agency Qazinform reported on Thursday. The agency and several other media outlets in Kazakhstan quoted Zhanbolat Usenov, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as saying the tourist had crossed into China with the group and her whereabouts were unknown. Kazakhstan´s diplomats were working with local officials in a search for the Kazakh tourist, according to the media reports. Some later reports said a second Kazakh woman was unaccounted for in the area of the floods. On Wednesday, the Kazakhstani government had said no Kazakh citizens were reported among the dead and missing. The governments of other Central Asian countries are also monitoring the disaster aftermath. Citing Nepali police, The Kathmandu Post reported on Thursday afternoon that the death toll from the floods had risen to 359. That number is expected to rise. More than 800 people, many of them foreign tourists, are unaccounted for, according to authorities.

Renewable Energy

Acwa and KOWEPO Explore Renewable Energy Projects in Uzbekistan

South Korea’s KOWEPO, which is wholly owned by state-controlled Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), is moving into Uzbekistan’s rapidly expanding green energy market alongside Saudi Arabia’s Acwa, one of the market’s largest players. No specific projects have been announced yet, but the companies will explore opportunities in renewable generation and energy storage while considering the possibility of attracting South Korean financing. The memorandum was signed in Tashkent on August 25. For KOWEPO, the agreement offers an opportunity to bring to Central Asia the experience it has gained through projects in the Middle East totaling 3.5 GW of renewable capacity and 877 MW of gas-fired generation. For Acwa, Uzbekistan has already become its second-largest market after Saudi Arabia. The company has operated there since 2019 and is developing 19 projects with a combined capacity of more than 10 GW and potential investment estimated at $15 billion. Abid Malik, Acwa’s president for Central Asia, said the companies would also seek to “facilitate engagement with Korean financial institutions” as they assess potential projects. Acwa’s portfolio in Uzbekistan includes solar and wind power, conventional generation, green hydrogen, and energy storage. Storage is becoming increasingly important as the share of solar and wind grows because utility-scale batteries can store surplus electricity and return it to the grid when renewable generation falls. Uzbekistan aims to expand renewable energy capacity to around 25 GW by 2030, with renewables targeted to account for 54% of electricity generation. The rapid construction of solar and wind farms comes as electricity demand rises and Uzbekistan seeks to modernize a power system that has historically relied heavily on gas-fired generation. Acwa has already secured contractual priority to develop up to 2 GWh of new battery energy storage capacity in the country. KOWEPO could therefore provide additional expertise and capital. Uzbekistan’s energy transition has already attracted major investors from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, China, and elsewhere. For now, the agreement with KOWEPO remains a framework arrangement, with the capacity, cost, locations, and timelines of any joint projects yet to be announced. Its practical significance will become clearer if the companies move from exploring opportunities to concrete investment decisions.

AI in Education

Tokayev Criticizes Delays in Kazakhstan’s School AI Rollout

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has criticized delays in Kazakhstan’s drive to introduce artificial intelligence into schools, saying the government had failed to implement his May decree properly ahead of the new academic year. Speaking at Kazakhstan’s annual August conference for educators, Tokayev said: “Its implementation ahead of the new academic year has not been properly ensured. This is a major shortcoming.” He called for urgent measures to regulate and systematize the use of AI by children and teachers. The May decree set a tight schedule. A comprehensive implementation plan was due by July 1. Pilot schools and their internet connections were to be ready by August 1, along with synchronized regional plans. National standards governing AI use are due by September 1. Tokayev did not specify which targets had been missed. The standards are intended to cover AI-generated educational content, assessment, and academic integrity. The decree also requires stronger protection of students’ personal data and a professional development plan for teachers. It says AI should be used as an additional classroom tool without replacing teachers’ work. Astana sees the program as preparation for employment rather than simply another digital classroom initiative. “Artificial intelligence and its tools are not amusing toys, but a means of earning a living,” Tokayev said. AI material is due to be added to existing digital literacy and computer science courses during the 2026-27 academic year. A separate rural-school pilot is scheduled to begin on September 1 in ten small schools in the Pavlodar and Kyzylorda regions. Officials plan to expand it to 50 schools in November and another 300 in January 2027. The pilot will test personalized learning in fourth-grade mathematics, digital literacy, native-language classes, and AI. The government sees the technology as one way to narrow the longstanding gap in educational opportunities between urban and rural schools. International guidance points to questions the national standards may need to settle. UNESCO recommends a minimum age of 13 for independent use of generative AI, protection of students’ personal data, and teacher training. Kazakhstan’s decree addresses data protection and training but does not specify an age threshold. The government has until September 1 to approve the national standards and its plan for teachers’ professional development.