Overview of Central Asia Region
Central Asia is the region of the World that lies between the Caspian Sea, in the West, and China and Mongolia, in the East, Russia in the North and Afghanistan in the South. Nowadays, the countries that form Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are all former Soviet Union countries.
In 2019, the number of people living in Central Asia was 72 million, consisting of 18 million people living in Kazakhstan, 6 million people living in Kyrgyzstan, 9 million people living in Tajikistan, another 6 million people living in Turkmenistan and 33 million living in Uzbekistan.
The actual regional healthcare structure is based on the medical structure that has been inherited by all the former member countries of the Soviet Union after its fall. As before 1990s, the Soviet Union was controlling the whole healthcare system throughout all its regions, keeping it uniformed. Nowadays, the former members of the Soviet Union find it difficult to raise the standards of the medical services provided, that are, mostly, over 30 years outdated, due to several reasons, but not impossible.
Overall, the Central Asian countries are very concerned about their healthcare infrastructure. There are some reforms taking place, whose effects have been reflected in the improving life expectancy during the last 10 years, but there is still a lot to improve.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is the top performing country of the Central Asia region as it has vast oil and natural gas resources. It is accounting for more than 60% of Central Asia’s GDP, absorbing over 70% of all the investments in the region.
In the last twenty years, Kazakhstan’s income status has transitioned from lower-middle-income to upper-middle-income, becoming one of the most interested Central Asian populations to seek for medical services abroad.
The number of general practitioners and primary-care physicians in Kazakhstan is relatively low. The long lines and lack of specialists may daunt Kazakh citizens when receiving basic health care services.