International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) has published a 2021 report titled “Reforming healthcare in Uzbekistan: what role for the international community?” available in English, Uzbek and Russian languages here
This report examines the state of the healthcare system in Uzbekistan and asks how the international community can make a positive difference.
Between 2017 and 2019 President Mirziyoyev undertook an ambitious programme of legislative reform of the medical sector in Uzbekistan, aimed at ensuring better access to affordable medicines and new medical infrastructure with trained medical personnel. It was noted that despite progress in some areas, local reports indicated that health care sector still faced challenges, with limited access for households that cannot afford private medical services. For example, at 8000 active cases in July 2020 medical officials sounded the alarm that the healthcare system was reaching its full capacity and risked successful crisis management.
International Partnership for Human Rights expressed its concern regarding ethical violations amongst medical staff who charged for what were officially free public medical services. “The recent COVID-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on the underlying weaknesses in the healthcare system in Uzbekistan – it is vital that urgent steps are taken by the Uzbekistani authorities to address corruption, and to encourage open and equal dialogue between government officials and medical staff.” Said Brigitte Dufour, Director of International Partnership in the press-release. “Local reports and social media indicate that ordinary Uzbekistani citizens question the implementation of the governments’ declarations and initiatives, and doubt President Mirziyoyev’s willingness to move beyond top-down decisions and open up to real dialogue with local stakeholders” said Sebastien Peyrouse (Central Asia Program, IERES), George Washington University and Member of IPHR.
Such foundations for criticism coming from Western experts are not unique to Uzbekistan, and could be descriptive of Central Asian, other former Soviet countries in general. A root could be the state governance model, which is typically based on top-down order approach and and environment where honest discussions with expert communities are scarce.
Disclaimer:
The authors views expressed in the above-mentioned report do not necessarily reflect the views of P4H members or the Coordination Desk, nor the country page manager.
Sources:
https://www.iphronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/RU-UZB-report-3.12.pdf – report in Russian
https://www.iphronline.org/uzbekistan_healthcare.html – report in English
