Overview

The Ministry of Health is the main governing body in a largely public system

The health system is mainly governed by the Ministry of Health, which develops health policies, drafts health legislation and oversees the regulation of the health system. The Mandatory Health Insurance Fund (MHIF) under the Ministry of Health is an executive agency that pools public funds at the national level for the procurement of a standardized package of services from health care organizations. Most health care organizations are public and most health workers are salaried employees.

Financing relies to a large extent on out-of-pocket payments

Private spending, almost entirely in the form of out-of-pocket expenditure and including informal payments, accounted for 46.3% of health expenditure in 2019. Publicly covered services are defined in the State-Guaranteed Benefits Package, but in 2019 only 69% of the population was covered by mandatory health insurance. Medication remains the biggest driver of out-of-pocket payments in inpatient, outpatient and self-treatment settings and is the largest component of out-of-pocket spending.

There are geographical imbalances in health workers and family doctors are lacking

Health facilities are geographically well distributed but there are still remote areas with limited access to health services. The ratio of doctors to population is much higher in urban areas and the country’s capital, Bishkek, and much lower in rural areas and there is a shortage of family doctors.

Far-reaching reform programmes have been embraced

Since independence, Kyrgyzstan has undertaken several far-reaching health reform programmes, with major changes to health financing and the provision of health services. The current “Healthy Person – Prosperous Country” programme (2019–2030) emphasizes the importance of health for achieving economic development.