2,000 foreigners treated in Kazakhstan

According to Kazakh TV, medical tourism to Kazakhstan is increasing, with over 2,000 foreigners receiving treatment in local hospitals in 2018. Many are coming for complex surgeries. Deputy General Director of the National Centre for Health Development, Aiman Iskakova reportedly said that medical tourists come from 45 different countries for treatment, with the majority from Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Some also travel from the US, Germany and Nigeria.

The article says that the main advantages of medical tourism in Kazakhstan are the international certifications, high level of medical services as well as the professionalism of specialists and modern medical equipment used.

In the first ten months of 2018, a total of 1,604 foreign patients were registered in hospitals in Kazakhstan.  No source of the data has been given.

Talgat Pazylbekov, Medical Director at the National Center for Neurosurgery says “Most of the patients arrive here to undergo complex surgeries. The diagnosis varies from brain tumors and spinal injury, and some of the patients need to undergo brain vessels surgery. In most cases, the patients come here because there are no complex surgeries available in their countries, like how we provide here. Also due to technical and personnel problems, their choice of country may be due to the cost of the surgery”.

The article states that medical tourists in Kazakhstan seek the services of heart surgeries, neurosurgery, transplant and reproductive medicines. The country currently has six health organisations accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI) Accreditation Standards for Hospitals.

The article says that Kazakhstan has the opportunity to become the world center of medical tourism in the Central Asia region. It suggests the country needs to advertise its medical capacities worldwide and that tour operators can also help in promoting Kazakhstan as a medical destination.

The article says an online medical website has been created in order to attract foreign patients. On the website, the potential patients can find information about local clinics and about their equipment, medical services and specialists. A special call center has also been launched for medical tourism.

No web address was given in the article for the medical website.

For a more detailed analysis of the medical travel sector in Kazakhstan, visit the IMTJ Country Profile.