Starting August 23, 2026, Kazakhstan will implement new rules for handling patients' personal data. The Ministry of Health has updated the regulations for data collection and processing, as reported by infohub.kz.
The changes will affect the procedure for obtaining consent via the eGov portal, digital standards for DICOM images, as well as mandatory storage periods and subsequent destruction of diagnostic files.
Under the new rules, patients will give consent for the collection and processing of personal medical data in writing, as an electronic document, or through the user account on the 'digital government' web portal. Medical images will be assigned a unique identification number for identification purposes.
Regarding storage periods, images of children (from 0 to 15 years old) obtained using diagnostic equipment will be stored for 15 years, while images of adult patients will be stored for 10 years. After the expiration of these periods, the images will be destroyed.
The new procedure for handling patients' personal data will come into effect on August 23 of this year.
Earlier, it was reported that the Ministry of Health is transitioning the entire medical career to a digital system. It will track the entire path of a doctor—from admission to medical college, advanced training, employment, and job changes. It was also reported that the number of places in medical universities will now be calculated based on the actual needs of hospitals and clinics, with an emphasis on regions with a critical shortage of specialized specialists.