About 1,500 newborns in Kazakhstan receive surgical treatment each year, with 40% of procedures performed using minimally invasive endovideo surgery. The Ministry of Health reported this following the International Scientific and Practical Conference "Child Health and Development" in Almaty, according to infohub.kz.
Magripa Yembergenova, Director of the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the Ministry of Health, said specialized care for infants with birth defects is available in virtually every region of the country.
In addition, more than 2,000 children receive cardiac surgery each year, 500 receive hearing implants, and about 700 premature infants undergo retinopathy correction.
According to Yembergenova, the ministry intends to expand access to high-tech treatment within the country.
"We have set a clear goal — to make any high-tech care accessible within the country. Today, our clinics already use Gamma Knife and proton therapy, and a hybrid operating suite has been launched: complex surgical interventions for brain tumors and vascular pathologies are performed in a single operation," she said.
The Ministry of Health's near-term plans include launching radioiodine therapy and introducing modern protocols for treating vascular malformations.
According to the ministry, over three years the number of referrals abroad for stem cell transplants from unrelated donors has fallen threefold, and for cardiac surgery by 5.2 times.
"From 2027, we plan to gradually reduce the flow of patients sent abroad for treatment by another 50%. This will be achieved through further equipping clinics, transferring innovations, and continuously training domestic specialists capable of performing operations of any complexity," Yembergenova said.
The conference in Almaty brought together scientists, pediatricians, pediatric surgeons, and relevant experts from the World Health Organization from nine countries, including the United Kingdom, Austria, Denmark, Israel, and Belarus. Participants discussed international standards for early disease detection, changes in pediatric services, and continuous professional training.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that in Almaty, Kazakh and Russian surgeons performed joint minimally invasive operations on children with severe congenital pathologies of the chest and abdominal cavity. More than 150 surgeons from across the country participated in the master class, both in person and online — the training aims to introduce such interventions in the regions.