ALMATY – Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister for human development Gulshara Abdykalikova and head of the Ministry of Health and Social Development Tamara Duyssenova made a working trip to the city Sept. 20 and toured the Kazakh Research Institute of Oncology and Radiology (KRIOR).
Abdykalikova and Duyssenova met with the medical staff, discussed the problems of oncologists andpressing oncologic issues and heard a report from the KRIOR management on the key indicators of Kazakh oncology service and the prospects for the development and implementation of sectoral programmes on rendering oncology care to the population.
In his report, KRIOR director Kuanysh Nurgaziyev noted the achievements and problems of the country’s oncology service. In particular, he told about the lack of staff in the regions and the need for retraining specialists. He reported that systematic work is being held for personnel training in the field. Nurgaziyev also stressed that the work of oncologists for the early detection of cancer is complicated by the passivity of the population.
“Our people, unfortunately, are not willing and often do not pass medical surveys and screenings and come to us in the later stages, which complicates the process of treatment,” said the chief oncologist. However, the KRIOR director noted that coverage of specialised treatment has increased. Nurgaziyev put forth his suggestions for improving the nation’s oncologic service and the whole situation in the country. The head of KRIOR emphasised the state’s participation in the financing of the oncology sector. “We are the only country where the state provides free drugs against cancer to 88 percentof the patients without a co-payment principle,” said Nurgaziyev.
As Abdykalikova noted in her speech, the sectoral programme of the oncology service is recognised as one of the best governmental programmes and its implementation is nearing completion. The deputy prime minister also noted that today in the city as well as the whole country, positive dynamics of maternal and infant mortality, cancer rates and total mortality are being preserved.
“People prefer to go to Almaty for quality healthcare. However, with the increase in the city’s population and the influx of immigrants from other regions of the country, the quality of medical services is lessening. It is necessary to improve the competitiveness of the regional health organisations,” the deputy prime minister said.
Duyssenova, in turn, outlined new tasks for the entire healthcare system on the second stage of implementation of Salamatty Kazakhstan, the state programme for the development of healthcare for 2011-2015. In particular, the minister noted the need to improve the quality of health services, strengthen preventive measures and work on the existing shortages of medical staff, which negatively affect the quality and timeliness of delivery of health services. In this regard, it may be necessary to strengthen control over the employment of medical graduates. The main priority in the coming years will be the development of primary healthcare. With regard to KRIOR, Duyssenova stressed that the institute should coordinate all of the republic’s oncology services in all directions.
This was the first working visit of Abdykalikova and Duyssenova to KRIOR since their appointments to theirnew positions.
To increase the life expectancy and quality of life of Kazakhstan, a five-year state programme for the development of cancer care in 2012-2016 with a total budget of 211 billion tenge (US$1.2 million) was adopted. Six screening programmes of the Ministry of Health and Social Development for early detection of the most common types of cancer were put into effect.
