“Salauatty Kazakhstan" State Program provides for implementation of international ethical principles - Vice Minister of Healthcare Salidat Kairbekova

On the President's instruction the Ministry of Healthcare has elaborated a State Program in Healthcare Development for 2011-2015.

In an interview to Kazinform Agency Vice Minister of Healthcare Salidat Kairbekova tells about the changes in healthcare sector outlined in the Program.

"Salauatty Kazakhstan" State Program presented in the Government late May provides for significant improvement in medical services, including free choice of hospitals, clinics and doctors by the residents. Are the doctors and medical institutions are ready to work in these conditions?

Currently, the medical organizations of the country provide inpatient and outpatient treatment within the guaranteed volume of medical care with payment for actual expenses. The patients are free in choice of their doctors and medical organizations. Implementation of the program ensures transparency of the provided medical services - the patients pay only for the treatment expenditures. The medical facilities also apply modern principles of management, electronic information systems and sector statistics.

The Program provides for introduction of the social workers institution for solution of medical-social problems. Who are these experts and are they trained in Kazakhstan?

Indeed, such institution will be introduced for solution of medical-social problems. These are the social workers with secondary education and psychologists with higher education. Training the psychologists is carried out in many Kazakhstani universities at present while social workers will obtain education in colleges.

What can you say about monetization of benefits for the purchase of medicines?

Kazakhstan has set to reorganization of pharmaceutical industry for adaptation to the conditions of market economy. The draft State Program of Healthcare Development "Salauatty Kazakhstan" provides for stage-by-stage modernization of the system of outpatient provision of medicines within the guaranteed free medical care. This will allow the patients to get medicaments and medical items free or by discount prescriptions.

The new system simplifies this procedure. The patients have a right to choose a generic or original drugs (Generic is a drug which is produced and distributed without patent protection. It contains the same active ingredients as the original formulation. The generic drugs are identical or within an acceptable bioequivalent range to the brand name counterpart with respect to pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties). At present the Ministry of Healthcare develops a mechanism of realization of this project and intends to test it in one of the regions.

The state program provides for establishment of an institute for protection of the patients rights. What new will this institute bring for the Kazakhstanis?

Within the establishment of the patients' rights protection institution we will develop and put into operation the system of informing the population about the effectiveness of healthcare organizations. There will be taken measures to encourage participation of the patients and the community in the process of improving the quality of healthcare services. Elaboration of the system rating assessment of the healthcare organizations based on the results of external and internal audit and the opinions of the patients is planned. The system of training independent accredited experts will be improved. Ethics committees will be created in order to implement international ethical guidelines at all levels. Legal framework regulating the rights and obligations of the patients will be improved too. The population will be constantly informed of the effective methods of treatment, prevention of diseases and the opportunities of domestic medicine including the list of services within the guaranteed volume of medical care.

Will the population be screened for tuberculosis within the national screening programs?

In general, screening for tuberculosis is carried out in the presence of specific complaints from patients - cough for about 2 weeks, weakness, high body temperature within 37.1°C -37.5°C . . In order to prevent the disease every citizen must pass X-ray once a year.

Thank you for conversation.