Kazakh Minister of Health Salidat Kairbekova has reported on the results of the first year of implementing the «Salamatty Kazakhstan» state program during a government hour at the Kazakh Lower House, the Majilis. Over a million women and four million children have been examined over the past year.

Salidat Kairbekova, Kazakh Minister of Health
«We started to vaccinate children against the pneumococcal infection for the first time in the post-Soviet space. This will reduce infant mortality by an average of 10%. 260 thousand children have been vaccinated in 4 regions across the country to date. Neonatal surgery is also actively developing. The number of children with timely detected and promptly operated congenital malformations increased by almost 1.5 times in 2011.»

In 2011, mortality from circulatory diseases also decreased by 20% in Kazakhstan. According to the minister, the introduction of advanced technologies in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases contributed significantly to this fact. A world-class national scientific cardiac surgery center opened in Astana on the president’s request, whose medical doctors performed over 600 cardiac surgeries, including 119 operations on children. 8 stroke centers opened in the regions as well. In general, the cost of implementing the state program currently stands at more than 387 billion tenge. Tremendous budget funds require diligent administration, the minister said. Therefore, a special center, where over three thousand health care managers underwent training, was established. The minister suggested introducing norms of responsibility for health protection for more effective implementation of the government program.

Salidat Kairbekova, Kazakh Minister of Health
«We believe it is necessary to outline norms of responsibility for health care from the minister to governors, employers, and citizens. Without adopting such standards it is difficult for us to instill a caring attitude towards health in public. For example, late treatment of patients not only leads to deterioration in quality of life of the patient. For example, treatment of breast cancer at an early stage, costs an average of 110-120 thousand tenge, and at the late stage the amount stands at 27 million tenge.»