ASTANA – Kazakhstan has become the first Central Asian country to meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2025 target of reducing premature mortality from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) by 25%, WHO reported on July 28.
Photo credit: WHO
The report highlights Kazakhstan’s progress in addressing cardiovascular disease and cancer through prevention, early detection, improved treatment, and higher survival rates. The country has fully implemented 50% of WHO-recommended policies on NCDs and partially implemented another 36%.
“The country has taken wide-ranging policy actions, from investing in nationwide stroke and cardiac care centres to tackling tobacco use and reducing the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages,” said Dr Gundo Weiler, the director for Prevention and Health Promotion at WHO/Europe. “I also congratulate Kazakhstan on conducting the STEPS survey for the first time – WHO’s gold-standard tool for measuring the prevalence of NCDs and their risk factors.”
Between 2017 and 2024, the number of catheterization laboratories rose from 31 to 49, while 83 stroke emergency centers now operate nationwide. Kazakhstan has also achieved success in advanced surgeries, including heart and lung transplants. Since 2012, more than 600 ventricular assist devices supporting the heart’s pump function have been successfully implanted. This year, Kazakhstan performed its 100th heart transplant.
Early screening also plays a key role. Kazakhstan’s programs cover eight diseases, and screening for breast and colorectal cancer reached 70% of the target population in 2024, which is a record level. Life expectancy rose to 75.09 years in 2023, while the overall mortality rate dropped to 6.5 per 1,000 people.
To strengthen cervical cancer prevention, Kazakhstan launched an HPV vaccination campaign in 2024. Over 116 000 girls had been vaccinated by January.
Besides medical interventions, Kazakhstan has focused on addressing key risk factors for NCDs, including tobacco use, unhealthy diets and excessive sugar consumption. Key policies include a public smoking ban, graphic health warnings on tobacco product packaging, tax hikes, restrictions on tobacco display and sales, and a complete ban on e-cigarettes and vapes. These measures have led to a decline in smoking prevalence over the past ten years that is now estimated at around 20%. The country has also restricted the sale of sugar-sweetened beverages and energy drinks to minors.
Despite this encouraging progress, challenges remain. Policies on salt reduction and marketing restrictions of unhealthy products for children are barely present in Kazakhstan, while regulations on breast milk substitutes and trans fats are only partially implemented. That’s what the government is planning to address in the future to strengthen NCD policies.
