Healthcare - The Times Of Central Asia

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Cancer Patients in Uzbekistan Dying for Want of Palliative Care

Despite being approved back in 2017, the construction of a hospice for adults in Tashkent remains but a dream. Deprived of palliative care for the past five years, Uzbek citizens afflicted by oncological, haematological, neurological and immunological diseases have been left to suffer and die. Tasked with building the facility, the Comfort Engineering Group has defended the long delay by citing a lack of funds. Although allocated $1.4 million for the build, the company received only $113.5 thousand and as a consequence, was forced to down tools. The city administration had promised to finish the "long construction" back in November 2023 and in April this year, the hospice was expected to receive its first patients. Frustrated by the Uzbek capital's authorities, Yakhyo Ziyayev, oncologist and long-term campaigner for the development of palliative and hospice care in Uzbekistan, stated on social media, "I can honestly tell you, I'm losing faith in the possibility of changing anything for the better in this country. Here comes April. Where is the fulfilment of the promise? A week ago, Rustam (oncologist Rustam Norboev) and I visited the site. Nothing has started. We were told that it would start on Monday, next week. It's OK if they finish late, it's still a victory for us, so I didn't take it negatively." Local specialists have also voiced their disappointment, "Stephen Connor, head of the World Association for Hospice and Palliative Care, is due to visit Uzbekistan in May. But his visit will be pointless because of the lack of basic infrastructure." As a result of the high profile afforded to the oncologist's appeal, the Tashkent khokimiyat has now promised to discuss the issue with the city's recently appointed khokim, Shavkat Umurzakov, within 10-15 days. "If it is not possible to (secure) money to complete the hospice, they will get it from other sources and complete the hospice by September," assured an administration spokesperson. Thanks to the efforts of the Ezgu Amal Charitable Foundation, Israeli Ambassador to Uzbekistan Zehavit Ben-Hillel, Embassy employee Daphne Kfir-Furman and sponsors, Uzbekistan's first and only children's hospice opened in August 2022, has treated 260 patients to date.

Healthcare Uzbekistan Social

Uzbekistan’s Average Life Expectancy Increased to 74.7 Years in 2023

The average life expectancy for the population in Uzbekistan is increasing, according to the Statistics Agency of Uzbekistan. The average life expectancy of permanent residents of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2023 was 74.7 years, up almost a half a year from the previous annual reading. According to the agency's report, Uzbek women live 4 years longer than men. Average life expectancy as of January 1, 2024, for women was 76.9 years, and for men, 72.5 years. The average life expectancy at the beginning of 2023 was 74.3 years, and this indicator corresponded to 76.6 years for women and 72.1 years for men. As of January 1, 2022, the average life expectancy of the population was 73.8 years, and at the beginning of 2021, it was 73.4 years old.

Kyrgyzstan Healthcare Social

Experts in Kyrgyzstan Sound Alarm Over Acute Shortage of Medicines

Doctors in the Central Asian republic are saying that medical institutions lack emergency, intensive care, pediatric, and cardio-pulmonary drugs, as well as contraceptives and the supplies needed for safe medical abortions. Kyrgyzstan's hospitals lack basic medicines and basic daily medications, according to Bermet Baryktabasova, head of the Kyrgyz Medical Trade Union. The Health Ministry cannot solve the problem on its own, she said, so resolution of the issue must involve the government, members of parliament (MPs) and national security services - otherwise, there will be a social catastrophe. "There are distress signals from all regions - there are no medicines, or they are running out. Requests to [Kyrgyzpharmacy] for the supply of medicines according to needs have been lying for the second quarter since the beginning of the year... The medicines arrive without accompanying documents (delivery notes, certificates, without specifying the purchase price and other financial and authorization papers)," Baryktabasova posted on social media. In March last year, the Kyrgyz authorities created the state enterprise, Kyrgyzpharmacy, to implement a new approach to providing hospitals with medicines at an affordable price. Later, the Cabinet of Ministers decided that the supply of drugs to public clinics will be handled by a single operator. Kyrgyzpharmacy also controls the quality of medicines, their storage and delivery, adding a 5% mark-up on the cost of goods. "State and municipal health care organizations pay for medicines and medical devices supplied to the state enterprise Kyrgyzpharmacy from the funds provided in the budget of the organizations for the relevant year. They may also purchase medicines not on the list from Kyrgyzpharmacy if supplies are available," the new law states. Problems with drug availability began mainly because of a decree prohibiting the importation of medicines that had not previously passed state registration and were not included in the relevant lists. The document was supposed to reduce the risks of importing low-quality medicines. However, most foreign pharmaceutical companies did not go through the complicated registration procedure; they often aren't interested in Kyrgyzstan's small market. Dastan Bekeshev, a member of the Supreme Council (Jogorku Kenesh), conducted a survey among citizens to find out what medicines are in short supply. As a result, the MP made a list of 50 items. "I decided to find out what is the reason for the shortage of medicines and sent a list of necessary medicines to the Ministry of Health. As it turned out, the geopolitical situation and the lack of registration of many drugs are to blame. The registration procedure should be simplified: if a medicine is registered in the U.S., U.K., Europe, Japan or Russia, we should by default register it in our country. So far, the bureaucratic procedure is more important than the lives of citizens," Bekeshev said. Responding to the deputy, the Ministry of Health explained that 30 "items" from the list are not registered in the Kyrgyz Republic. That means these drugs cannot be imported into the country. "In the absence of a prescribed drug in pharmacy organizations, citizens...

Education Central Asia Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Social Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz Surgeons Performed Unique Heart Surgery in One Minute

The National Centre of Cardiology and Therapy in Bishkek has announced its implementation of an Emergency Cardiology program to provide emergency care to patients with acute myocardial infarction. The authorities' purchase of new heart surgery equipment including a machine to create ultra-precise 3D reconstructions of the heart on a monitor and the importation of U.S.-made Azurion-7 devices for diagnosing and treating cardiovascular diseases was made possible by the allocation of $1.5 million from the World Bank. In his address at the presentation ceremony, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Akylbek Zhaparov welcomed the much needed acquisition of the state -of -the- art, high-tech equipment which will greatly reduce the number of patients dying from heart disease each year. Today, the centre reported that with the aid of new high-tech X-ray surgical equipment and Chinese colleagues' specialised knowledge of its intricacies, doctors performed a successful heart operation in a record time of just one minute and eight seconds. According to Kyrgyz doctors, the patient had been admitted 'with an open oval window'; a particularly dangerous symptom of cardiovascular disease because the presence of holes between the valves of the heart can cause air to eventually enter the brain and lead to a stroke. "We are monitoring the patient's condition and she is doing very well. She was only given a local anaesthetic and in 12 hours, can go home and slowly return to her everyday life," stated Chinese professor Shang Xiaaoqe after the operation. Almost half the patients attending the National Centre of Cardiology for strokes suffer from this type of disease but thanks to the new equipment and adoption of methods used by Chinese medics, its treatment will no longer pose a problem for Kyrgyz doctors. In addition to advice from their Chinese counterparts, Kyrgyz medics have arranged visits from Russian and Kazakh doctors to share their experience and best practices.

Kyrgyzstan Central Asia Healthcare

Kyrgyzstan’s ‘Be Responsible!’ Health Program Screens 680,000 Men

The key aim of Kyrgyzstan's 'Be Responsible!' program is to encourage men to attend primary health care institutions for check-ups and specifically, the early detection of non-communicable and chronic diseases. According to a new report by the country's Ministry of Health, in just under a month, more than 680,000 men visited family doctors. For 149,000, it was either their first ever visit or the first in two years. The Ministry of Health's press centre hailed the success of the widespread campaign to attract attendances saying, "More than 44,000 men were categorized as having a high risk of cardiovascular diseases, and almost 33,000, a high risk of diabetes. The total number of men who visited medical institutions amounted to 47 percent of those over 18 years of age living in the country." Cardiovascular disease, cancer, lung disease and diabetes are categorized as chronic diseases. Data collected by the ministry indicates that in 2022, 52.1% of the mortality rate in men was caused by cardiovascular disease; 12.2% by cancer, and 5.5% by respiratory diseases. Doctors also drew attention to poor nutrition including a high salt intake and insufficient consumption of fruits and vegetables; the use of tobacco, alcohol abuse, and low levels of physical activity as contributing factors to poor health. With financial support from the Swiss government, the first screening campaign for Kyrgyz men was conducted in 2019. In response to doctors' reports of the rising number of men taking better care of their health, the Ministry of Health issued an order for the program to be conducted nationwide, on an annual basis, from 2023 onwards.

Central Asia Healthcare Uzbekistan Social

Uzbekistan Taking Steps Towards Cleaner Water

In December 2023, a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) delegation participated in the opening of a refurbished water treatment plant in the village of Shuyt in Uzbekistan's autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan. It will provide clean drinking water to 1,500 residents of the surrounding area. This is a joint UNDP, UN International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) program called Empowering Youth Towards a Bright Future through Green and Innovative Development in the Aral Sea Region, funded by the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Human Security for the Aral Sea Region in Uzbekistan. The project has the support of the governments of Uzbekistan, Norway, the European Union (EU), Finland, South Korea, Germany, and Alwaleed Philanthropies. UNDP, in cooperation with partner organizations, systematically assists remote regions of Uzbekistan to establish access to drinking water. Under a small-grants program implemented by the joint UNDP/GEF and the Uzbek State Committee of Ecology project for sustainable use of natural resources and forest management in key mountainous regions important for globally significant biodiversity, a 6.5-km pipeline was laid in the village of Chukur in the Kashkadarya region of Uzbekistan. It has provided about 1,500 people with clean drinking water for which the villagers used to walk long distances with buckets to the nearest spring. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 70% of all diseases globally are associated with poor-quality drinking water that does not meet sanitary and hygienic standards. The region of Priaralie demonstrates the large-scale problems which can arise in the absence of potable water. In the most remote areas of this region, groundwater is the main source of fresh water - but such water cannot be used directly for drinking due to the presence of a large number of harmful and poisonous substances such as pesticides, mineral salts in large quantities, and heavy metals. That's caused by the systematic pollution of underground aquifers and the lack of modern drinking water treatment systems. All this has led to a massive deterioration in the health of the population of the Aral Sea region. According to the Pravda Vostoka newspaper, as of June 2023, the drinking water availability rate in Priaralie was 71%, and at the beginning of 2019, only 52.4%. By the end of 2023, 5,473 households were connected to water-supply networks, and water meters were installed for households free of charge. Construction of treatment facilities using modern standards is underway in the region. Since December 2021, construction has been underway in several districts of the country on 10.73 kilometers of drinking-water supply and wastewater networks, and three wastewater treatment plants, with a projected cost of $3 million. Construction of a wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 30,000 cubic meters of water per day is ongoing in the city of Nukus, along with 16 pumping stations and wastewater disposal networks with a length of 88 kilometers. The projects are expected to increase the local population's drinking water supply by more than 74% this year.