Hospital Sector Reform in Uzbekistan – a Policy Note

1. Since the mid-1990s, Uzbekistan has undergone reforms in the health sector focused on restructuring of primary health care in Uzbekistan as well as the establishment of an emergency medical care network. These were defined in the August 1996 Law on Health Protection and the1998 presidential decree outlining a new structural framework for the Uzbek health care system and priority areas for health reforms. Recent studies and project supervision visits indicate that the primary care reforms have led to increases in clinical quality and patient satisfaction, and reduced levels of outpatient attendances and inpatient admissions at central rayon hospitals in the rayons undergoing reform. The emergency medical care (EMC) network, consisting of national and oblast level hospitals, EMC departments within central rayon and city hospitals, and the ambulance network, is providing good quality 24/7 services for acute surgical and medical patients free of charge, following a program of upgrading, equipping and training of staff. It has also established referral and support relationships between the rayon, oblast and republic levels.