ASTANA – the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development recently prepared the first version of the conceptual approaches to the development of primary healthcare (PHC).The programme will change the structure of Kazakhstan’s healthcare service, said Minister Tamara Duyssenova during the extended collegial meeting of the ministry.
“We started to develop the second phase of the activities of the Salamatty Kazakhstan (Healthy Kazakhstan) state programme for 2016-2020. One of its top priorities will be the development of primary healthcare as the key point for defining the structure and principles of the organisation of the whole healthcare system of the country. Taking into account the strategic course to become one of the 30 most-developed countries in the world, the organisation of primary healthcare must be brought into conformity with the standards of the OECD countries,” the minister said.
In particular, according to the information available, it will be necessary to solve several problems that currently exist in the PHC organisation. The key issue is the problem of the availability and quality of services arising from the significant differences in the organisation, needs and features of medical services provision, facilities and potential of PHC sectors in villages and cities. The second issue is staffing, including the problems of medical education, inadequate training of medical professionals in family principle work, low motivation of specialists and uneven and inefficient distribution of staff.
“Since last year, the principle of fundholding at the PHC level has been introduced. We started to provide funding through the use of a single and comprehensive capitation standard rate, but the total amount of allocated funds remains at 26 percent of the total amount allocated to a guaranteed amount of free medical care,” said Duyssenova.
International experience shows that the required coverage and the effective delivery of primary care services can be achieved at the funding level of at least 40 percent of healthcare costs.
“Given the current situation, we have prepared the first version of the conceptual approaches for the development of PHC. It provides for reorganisation of the PHC provision principle from the individual to the family;that is, the formation of a universal, comprehensible, integrated, socially-oriented and organised PHC. In this regard, the following issues will be considered: expansion of the list of PHC services provided, review of the structure which should provide these kinds of services, training and skills development, review of drug supply and, of course, a gradual increase in the proportion of PHC funding in total funding,” the minister said.
She added that the revised draft taking into account the discussions will be submitted in April to the National Council on Healthcare under the government.
