• Kazakhstan Health Insurance Information

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All things being equal, people who are living in Kazakhstan should feel grateful that the country offers free healthcare services. 

The problem is that the entire system is laden with briberies and corruptions, thus restricting the population's access to quality healthcare. 

Additionally, health care, which is under the control of state since 2006, has suffered significant drop in quality from the days of Soviet Union.  The desperate situation is driven by lack of funding as well as exodus of professional staff at all levels. 

The following numbers described the sad state of healthcare in Kazakhstan.  From 1989 to 2001, the number of doctors to every 10,000 population is 34.6 (representing some 15% drop), and the number of hospital beds to every 10,000 population is 74 (a dramatic drop of 46%).  Some stability was restored in the subsequent years and by 2005, the above ratios have progressively risen to a more respectable 55 and 77. 

Traditionally, government has been reluctant to fund health reform program; for example in 2005, expenditure attributed to healthcare industry stood at dismay 2.5% of the country's GDP (or gross domestic product).  However, the government has made the resolution to increase the spending to get closer to 4% by 2010.  For many years, a mandatory health care insurance program has been on the drawing board but without much progress.  The whole situation is compounded by low pay for health care workers and inadequate medical equipment. 

Japan is the main contributing foreign country as far as medical equipment is concerned.  Because of cost constraints, the treatment of choice among the residents is outpatient care, rather than the more comprehensive (and likely more appropriate) in-patient treatment -- this is certainly a far cry from the Soviet era.  The deplorable health situation is especially bad in rural areas, Aral Sea region, for example.

The three most widespread illness in Kazakhstan are: respiratory disorders, cardiovascular diseases and tuberculosis.  Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) swept Kazakhstan in the late 90s and this disease is now accorded with more attention, similar to the various cancerous diseases.  By 2003, there were some 23,000 inhabitants who are affected by HIV.

It is projected that the number of cases is bound to increase sharply.  In 2006, the country attracted further unsolicited attention when it was reported that inappropriate hospital techniques was responsible for the outbreak of juvenile HIV.  This has claimed some 1,285 cases for the nine months period in that year alone.

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