Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In his next message to the Oliy Majlis, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev touched upon all spheres of the country’s life and gave targeted instructions to address specific tasks for the next year.

Along with the key issues of socio-economic development of Uzbekistan, the head of state emphasized that the continuation of consistent work on reforming the health care system is one of the strategic tasks of today. In this regard, Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed to declare 2021 the Year of Supporting Youth and Strengthening the Health of the Population.

In fact, the planned reforms in the coming year will be primarily aimed at preserving the health of the population, raising a physically and spiritually healthy generation.

Speaking about the current crisis of the coronavirus pandemic, the head of state stressed that 2020 has become a year of unprecedented trials and at the same time a period of consistent development, gaining new experience not only for the healthcare system of Uzbekistan, but also for all countries of the world. The relevance of this opinion is dictated by the emerging unstable situation in the world due to the ongoing epidemiological crisis in the countries of the world.

In this regard, the President focused on specific areas of radical reform of the healthcare system in Uzbekistan, which require the most serious attention from the state and society.

In order to carry out deep structural reforms in the health sector, an unprecedented 19.6 trillion soums will be allocated from the state budget in 2021. For comparison, in 2020, 14.8 trillion soums were allocated, which is 1.2 times higher than in 2019. The allocation of such impressive additional funds reflects the enormous attention paid by the country’s leadership to the development of this area.

The initiatives of the head of state are called upon to focus the main efforts on a fundamental revision in the organization of work at the level of primary health care. This provides for changes in the functions of doctors - if before there were general practitioners, now they will become, in fact, family doctors. Each of them will know everything about the state of health of their "wards". So, next year, 315 new family doctor’s offices and 85 family polyclinics will open. An emergency medical team of a family doctor and 5 nurses will also be formed to improve the delivery of medical services.

At the forefront is also the task of attracting citizens to a healthy lifestyle. It should be noted that the decisive role in the progress of any society is played by the healthy and harmonious development of the young generation, in this regard, the President called the most important priority in the health sector - the widespread introduction of a healthy lifestyle among the population, especially young people. In 2021, it is planned to increase the coverage of the population with physical culture and sports from the current 19% to 25%. Special pedestrian and bicycle paths will be built in all regional centers and cities. Funds in the amount of 100 billion soums will also be directed to equip 70 sports and sports institutions, 16 thousand kindergartens and schools with sports equipment and equipment. This initiative of the Head of State deserves special attention based on the problems of the emergence of chronic diseases among the population revealed by the pandemic.

In his message, the President paid special attention to raising the health care system in rural areas to a new level. As the head of state noted, in order to reduce the gap between cities and rural settlements, special attention will be paid to supporting rural doctors and polyclinics. Additional rehabilitation and resuscitation centers will be created in the regions, for which 150 billion soums will be allocated from the budget. According to the state program "Rural Doctor", more than 1,000 doctors in remote areas will be provided with service housing and receive 30 million soums.

It should be noted that the ongoing work to strengthen the private sector in medicine was able to show its results in the current difficult situation. In this regard, subsidies will be issued for the creation of private medical institutions involved in screening the population in remote areas of the country.

The government will also pay much attention to the further development of telemedicine, which has proven itself well this year. In 2021, the head of Uzbekistan instructed to establish a telemedicine system between specialized centers of the republic and their branches in the regions of the country. Measures will be taken to increase the number of remote services in all medical institutions, to switch polyclinics and hospitals to electronic registration.

Moreover, it is planned to increase funding for the treatment of chronic and severe diseases. In particular, in the field of oncohematology, as well as for a comprehensive treatment of serious diseases, 250 billion soums will be allocated from the budget.

In particular, for the first time, more than 5,000 patients with acute renal failure will be covered by free hemodialysis services, for which 140 billion soums will be allocated from the budget. In regional hospitals, departments of endocrine surgery, diabetic ankle, diabetic nephropathy and resuscitation will be created, 150 billion soums will be allocated from the budget for these works. Also, 35 interdistrict centers for the treatment of acute cardiovascular diseases will be created, which will save the lives of 30 thousand people annually.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev in his message separately emphasized that the protection of the health of mothers and children should remain one of the main priorities today and in the future. A number of innovations are also planned in this area, including free distribution of 7 types of vitamins to children under 15 years old and pregnant women, as well as medicines for parasitic diseases for children. In 2021, 11 million people will be involved in these processes, and in 2022 their number will be 17 million. This will ensure the continued implementation of the objectives of the national policy “Healthy mother - healthy child”.

In general, the planned measures to improve the health care system, which took one of the central places in the message of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, clearly illustrate the priorities of socio-economic policy. This approach of the state will make it possible to modernize and strengthen this area in the shortest possible time, as well as lay the foundations for its long-term development. Ultimately, the risks to the health and life of the population will decrease.

Shakhnoza Kodirova

Leading Researcher of the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies (ISMI) under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan