Emergency health care reform launched in Kyrgyzstan

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KYRYGZSTAN — The Kyrgyz government has launched a package of initiatives aimed at reforming the country's health care system. By the end of the year, officials hope to implement a new nationwide system of emergency care in the event of disaster.

"The need for such a programme is obvious here in Kyrgyzstan, which lacks a nationwide plan for emergency medical care in the event of a major disaster. The recent earthquakes in Kochkor and Nura tragically highlighted this need," said Samat Toymatov, a specialist at the Ministry of Health. According to him, the programme will be built around recent advances in the science of disaster medicine and will improve the efficiency of emergency first-aid. Many of the first-aid procedures currently in use in the country are obsolete and consequently less effective.

The program is expected to be in operation until 2017, and according to specialists at the Health and Emergency Situations Ministries, will put in place effective means to provide medical care to large numbers of people during disasters, both natural and man-made.

Earlier this year, the Kyrgyz government allocated US$6 million to improve care at rural hospitals, a portion of which was funded by international grants. The Young Doctors Investment Programme is aimed at encouraging young medical specialists to stay in provincial hospitals. As an incentive for them to do so, the programme will pay them US$70 a month over their regular monthly salaries of $50 to $60. "The bonus is significant. And if housing were to be provided in addition to the cash bonus, many more [doctors] would stay in these rural hospitals," says cardiologist Askar Raimberdiyev.

A major component of the push to improve health care in provincial areas is upgrading medical equipment. Rural clinics have already received the equivalent of US$3 million in necessary equipment and instruments. With last year's energy crisis in mind, hospitals have been pushing for electrical generators and hot-water heaters for their maternity wards and urgent care facilities.