Uzbekistan enlisted a group of seven Turkish experts to assist Ministry of Health in developing short-, medium- and long-term plans for healthcare system reform. According to the ministry’s press service, these experts were invited following a government resolution.
The team includes seven specialists focusing on seven key areas:
- enhancing primary healthcare;
- implementing medical insurance systems and digitalizing healthcare;
- improving hospital medical services;
- planning healthcare services;
- developing the pharmaceutical sector and ensuring access to medicines;
- optimizing the use of medical equipment;
- advancing emergency and urgent medical care.
Experts have “extensive international experience and qualifications in the aforementioned fields. Each expert is assigned responsibility for a specific area,” the statement noted.
The group is headed by Hasan Çağıl, a graduate of Istanbul University (1986) who played a key role in transforming Türkiye's healthcare system between 2003 and 2013. “Within a short period, the healthcare system in Türkiye, which was in decline in the early 2000s, evolved into a highly developed system,” the ministry noted.
Since 2016, Çağıl has provided consultancy to health ministries in various Asian and European countries. In Uzbekistan, he is working on implementing a medical insurance system.
Other members of the group include Mehmet Uğurlu, Talgan Küçük, Muhammet Örnek, Mehmet Ersoy, Hasan Bağcı and Mehmet Avci, all of whom have significant academic and practical expertise in healthcare.
“The experts are currently on-site, conducting a detailed review of healthcare facilities and providing recommendations for their development. Their analyses and suggestions will be consolidated into short-, medium- and long-term roadmaps for phased healthcare reforms,” the ministry explained.
Plans to bring Turkish specialists to Uzbekistan for digitalizing healthcare, launching medical insurance and developing medical clusters were first announced by Ministry of Health last summer. Earlier, in February 2020, it was reported that a Turkish expert would be appointed as an advisor to minister of health to lead reforms and digitization efforts. This agreement was reached during president Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s visit to Ankara.
Ministry of Health previously employed foreign experts to support healthcare reforms. In January 2018, professor Yoon Taek Rim from South Korea was appointed as an advisor to minister of health. In February 2019, another South Korean expert Lee Dong Wook assumed the roles of deputy minister of health and advisor to deputy prime minister on social development.
In November 2021, it was reported that the Turkish expert Güray Kaymak was appointed as the head of the specialized project organization Uztibloyikha, which is the main entity responsible for designing healthcare institutions under Ministry of Health.
Since 1 October, state medical insurance system was launched in Tashkent and Syrdarya region. Initially planned for 1 January 2021, its introduction was postponed several times. Now its nationwide rollout is scheduled for completion by the end of 2026.
