More than 3 million Kazakhstanis receive free medicines from the state every year. Over seven years, the budget for this purpose has tripled — from 83 billion to 272.9 billion tenge (from 2019 to 2025) — while total spending has reached 1.3 trillion tenge, according to infohub.kz.
According to the Ministry of Health, the plan for purchasing medicines and medical devices this year has been approved at 584.1 billion tenge. That is 9.6% more than in 2025.
The ministry also stressed that the state managed to save a substantial amount of budget money — 10.3 billion tenge. The reason is that, as part of improving the system, the cost of 66 domestic drugs was reduced.
To avoid overpaying intermediaries, the Health Ministry has increasingly been buying medicines directly from factories — both Kazakh and foreign. If 182 items were purchased under such direct contracts last year, this year the figure has already reached 404. In addition, Kazakhstan buys some drugs through international organizations (UNICEF and UNDP). This year, 32 types of medicines will be purchased through them (up from 23 last year).
The Health Ministry expects this approach to solve the main problems. That is, it will save budget money, eliminate shortages of drugs in warehouses, and allow patients to receive their medicines on time.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that Kazakhstanis receiving free medicines can now track their availability through messaging apps. The company SK-Pharmacy has launched services on Telegram and WhatsApp. Whether the needed drug has arrived can be checked by prescription number or IIN.