Kazakhstan's healthcare system is facing an acute shortage of specialized doctors — the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan has published official calculations of its need for medical personnel, according to infohub.kz.
According to the document, the most in-demand professions include intensive care specialists, surgeons, ophthalmologists, and neurologists. The total need for obstetricians-gynecologists at all levels exceeded 1,800.
"I hereby order the approval of the need for personnel in the healthcare sector in accordance with Appendix 1 to this order and the volume of admissions for training in medical specialties," the order states.
Under the document, the need for specialists by field breaks down as follows: obstetrics and gynecology (adult, pediatric) at all levels — 1,834 specialists; obstetrics and gynecology for outpatient clinics and rural healthcare organizations — 801 specialists; general medical practice — 642 specialists; anesthesiology and intensive care (adult, pediatric) — 1,043 specialists; general surgery — 941 specialists; ophthalmology (adult, pediatric) — 861; neurology (adult, pediatric) — 731; traumatology-orthopedics (adult, pediatric) — 573; infectious diseases (adult, pediatric) — 408; cardiology (adult, pediatric) — 485; and others.
Overall, hospitals and clinics across Kazakhstan currently need more than 8,300 doctors of various specialties.
The order was signed on October 1 of this year.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that over the past two years, the shortage of doctors in the country has decreased by nearly 20%. In rural areas, the figure dropped by as much as 26.7%.