Primary care reforms in Central Asia - On the path to universal health coverage?

This article reviews progress in primary care reforms in the four Central Asian countries Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It draws on the country monitoring work of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, a review of the peer-reviewed literature and an analysis of data available in international databases. The retrieved information was organized according to key health system functions (governance, provision, financing and resource generation), as well as key aims of universal health coverage (access to and quality of primary care and financial protection).

Kyrgyzstan: Health System Review.

This analysis of the Kyrgyz health system reviews developments in its organization and governance, financing, provision of services, health reforms and health system performance. A mandatory health insurance is in place, with the Mandatory Health Insurance Fund (MHIF) under the Ministry of Health acting as single public payer for almost all hospitals and providers of primary care. The benefits package of publicly covered services is defined in the State-Guaranteed Benefits Programme (SGBP).