On August 19, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev got acquainted with the presentation of proposals on healthcare system transformation and improvement the quality of medical care.
The relevant tasks were given by the Head of State at a meeting held on May 7 this year. On this basis, a range of proposals were prepared jointly with the sphere’s experts, representatives of the population and private sector.
Today the republican institutions are under major pressure. This is why special attention is paid to expanding the services provided on the regional and district level, therefore bringing medicine closer to the people.
With consideration of this, 1500 clinical protocols will be adapted and standard operation procedures will be developed, clinical routes of the patients on the most spread diseases will be fully implemented and digitalized.
In particular, in recent years there has been an increase in cases of hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and diabetes, which lead to strokes and heart attacks. In 85 percent of cases, patients are left disabled.
In this regard, it has been proposed to introduce new protocols and approaches at the primary care level for the prevention and treatment of these diseases with extensive use of artificial intelligence capabilities. ECG telemetry, telemedicine, thrombolytic therapy, stenting, and thrombectomy will also be established. Additionally, special attention will be paid to raising public awareness and teaching the population the algorithm for early recognition of stroke symptoms.
To improve the treatment of neurological diseases and stroke, a National medical center for neurology and neurorehabilitation will be established. A modern 250-bed facility will be built in Tashkent for this center. It is planned to perform more than 3 thousand surgeries annually.
This center, as well as the medical university clinics in Samarkand and Bukhara, will be supplied with modern equipment. In addition, with the support of Japanese partners, an early rehabilitation service based on international standards will be introduced. 150 medical specialists will undergo advanced training and retraining abroad. $150 million will be allocated for the implementation of this project.
These measures will help reduce disability and incapacity.
It has been proposed to map and digitize the existing healthcare system and, on this basis, develop a master plan for the organization of medical institutions with a unified approach, which will include the development and introduction of new construction standards, revision of 210 sanitary norms, as well as design of standard projects for polyclinics and hospitals.
Today, public trust in laboratory test results is low. The weakness of the laboratory service complicates the process of disease prevention and treatment. At the district level, 2800 polyclinics are served by 1500 laboratories. Majority of the equipment is outdated, certain tests are still performed manually.
For this reason, it has been proposed to improve the work of laboratories by creating 198 centralized laboratories by the end of 2030, establishing internal and external quality control, digitizing all processes.
The number of free tests will be increased.
Measures will be taken to develop professional and higher medical education.
It has been proposed to reform the work of the Academy of nurses by creating the Academy of professional medicine under Tashkent state medical university.
With the support of international partners, joint training programs and international certification of nurses based on the NCLEX exam will be developed and implemented. Gradually, the admission quota for universities in the field of higher nursing education will be increased.
It has been also proposed to certify all educational programs in accordance with the requirements of international organizations, implement an integrated education program and one-year internship on family medicine, a system of two-stage knowledge assessment, increase the ratio of the quantity of professors to students. The time of practical education of students on “by the bed” of the patient will be also increased. Gradually a system of registration of medical staff will be implemented.
The next area is the improvement of public health. To this end, it has been proposed to reorient the activities of the Committee on sanitary and epidemiological welfare and public health toward preventive measures to combat non-communicable diseases, maternal and child mortality, and injuries, through the development of a national program for the prevention of non-communicable diseases.
The issue of improving the blood service was also addressed.
It was proposed to adopt a program for 2026–2030, under which blood supply would be raised to 100 percent, blood product manufacturing would be established, and blood safety would be ensured through the introduction of virus inactivation and irradiation practices.
These measures will help reduce mortality from bleeding and ensure the availability of blood.
Today, the active development of pharmaceutical sector allowed to increase its volume to over $2 billion. The reforms are aimed at ensuring the population with quality, safe and effective medicines.
In this direction, it’s planned to introduce a procedure for recognizing drug registrations based on WHO-recommended criteria, bioequivalence testing of generics, a differentiated system for the registration of medical devices according to their safety class, and a notification-based procedure for starting activities related to the distribution of medical devices.
Contract manufacturing and technology transfer will be organized, modern pharmacovigilance mechanisms will be introduced.
The President approved the proposals presented and signed relevant documents aimed at their implementation. Instructions were given on ensuring a systematic and quality implementation of tasks set.