Today, at the session of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, the report by Asilbek Khudayarov, acting Minister of Health, on the “Status of the activities being carried out in our country regarding the prevention and treatment of diseases among children and adolescents, as well as future plans in the healthcare sector” was heard.
As noted, in recent years, numerous initiatives have been undertaken in our country to protect children's health, strengthen the reproductive health of the population, and bring primary medical services closer to the people.
Programs for the prevention, early detection, and improvement of health among mothers and children in primary care have been implemented, resulting in a 34 percent reduction in maternal mortality and a 26 percent reduction in child mortality under five years of age due to the specialization and enhancement of medical assistance in this area.
At the republic, district, and city level, systematic efforts based on the “365 days/24 hours” principle have been implemented to monitor, analyze, identify shortcomings in, and eliminate them in the assistance provided to mothers and children.
Ambulatory medical services for children are provided by more than 2,300 family clinics, 209 district (city) multi-profile central clinics, while inpatient care is available at 245 regional and district hospitals and 9 national institutions, totaling 13,3 thousand beds.
Pediatric anesthesiology-reanimation departments and pediatric departments in clinics have been established in district (city) medical associations. Additionally, 20,000 pediatric nurses and the position of a visiting-midwife have been included in all “medical brigades.” The operation of “children's departments” and “girls' health departments” at district, (city) multi-profile central clinics has been inaugurated.
According to A. Khudayarov, annually, cardiac surgical operations are performed for boys and girls born with congenital heart defects requiring high-technology operations in 8 medical institutions of our country.
Specifically, in 2023, surgical operations were performed on 4,458 children (compared to 3,676 children in 2022), of which 987 were performed using minimally invasive techniques, i.e., without incisions. For the early detection of oncological and hematological diseases among children, 219.7 children were screened en masse and 392.6 children were selectively screened in the first five months of the current year, with diseases being detected in 239 cases, who were then monitored for rehabilitation.
In the first half of this year, 1,962 cardio-surgical, 460 endoscopic, and 583 neurosurgical high-technology surgical operations were performed, preventing disability in 2,985 boys and girls. Additionally, 200.2 thousand newborns underwent audio screening, with 267 children receiving cochlear implants and having their hearing restored.
Deputies recognized the ongoing efforts in the sector during the session and mentioned the need to ensure medical institutions are fully supplied with drugs, medical devices, and consumables, and to reconsider the guaranteed package, base prices, and referral procedures for specialized medical care for the privileged contingent.
In turn, measures to increase remote services in medical institutions, transition of clinics and hospitals to electronic management, completion of the ongoing digitization of the system, and intensifying promotional activities to encourage a healthy lifestyle, proper nutrition, and increased physical activity were among the proposals made.
At the session, A. Khudayarov's report was accepted as information, and it was agreed to ensure effective parliamentary oversight on the agenda issue.
