KAZAKHSTAN HOSTS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PRIMARY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 002250 SIPDIS STATE PASS AID FOR AID/ASIA BWALLIN AND GCOOK, AID/GH CVINCENT CDC FOR COGH DCHRISTIANSEN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID SOCI KG TI TX UZ KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN HOSTS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PRIMARY HEALTH CARE ASTANA 00002250 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. SUMMARY: The Government of Kazakhstan recently hosted nearly 500 participants from 65 countries, including 11 health ministers, at the International Primary Health Care Conference dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Alma-Ata declaration on primary health care. Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organization and Ann Veneman, Executive Director of UNICEF, joined Kazakhstani Minister of Health Anatoliy Dernovoy in hosting the conference. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) regional mission in Central Asia sponsored a number of conference satellite events to advance primary health care and raise awareness of the positive results of U.S. investments in this field. END SUMMARY. WORSENING HEALTH DISPARITIES, IMPORTANCE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ¶2. The conference highlighted the many advances made over the last thirty years in primary health care, along with subsequent improvements in health. However, conference speakers and participants alike were candid in their assessment of the significant shortcomings in healthcare and worrisome trends in health status. Of particular concern to many present was the global trend of increasing health disparities -- particularly, differences in health status or access to good health care based on income, social class, race, ethnicity, and gender. In her opening remarks, Dr. Chan emphasized the association between health disparities and the impoverishing costs of good care -- factors that can threaten social cohesion and stability. ¶3. Although the vast majority of conference participants -- perhaps 450 out of 500 -- were from the public sector, the conference declaration emphasized the importance of engaging civil society in the primary health care movement to ensure that health services are more responsive to actual health needs. USAID showed its support for this concept by funding a U.S. public health expert from the Academy for Educational Development to attend both the conference and an NGO satellite event, where she presented findings from recent case studies on empowering healthcare consumers. USAID SUPPORTS SEVERAL SATELLITE EVENTS ¶4. In collaboration with conference organizers, USAID provided support for four ministry officials from Central Asia to attend the conference or satellite events, along with 13 civil society representatives. Two satellite events were organized and funded by USAID: a regional networking event for non-governmental organizations and primary healthcare facility managers, and a symposium for medical students on family medicine. USAID also worked with the Museum of Medical History in Kazakhstan to create a conference exhibition on the history of health reforms in Kazakhstan. ¶5. The symposium for medical students, which was covered by several national media outlets, was attended by over 100 students and faculty from the Kazakhstan National Medical University. Two medical students from Tajikistan attended as special guests of USAID. The purpose of the symposium was to promote the career track of family practitioners among medical students, faculty, and the general public. Representatives from the American Academy of Family Physicians, Physicians with Heart (an American NGO),and local family practitioners led workshops and panels on topics ranging from lower back pain to "a day in the life of family practitioners." Students appreciated the opportunity to meet practicing general practitioners from both Kazakhstan and the United States. The event appeared to motivate students and renew their commitment to primary health care. As one student from Tajikistan noted, "This (family medicine) concentration is new, modern, and becoming prestigious. To be a 'narrow' specialist is so boring, especially for young doctors. A general practitioner is more like a 'real' physician." ASTANA 00002250 002.2 OF 002 USG INVESTMENT IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE: IMPRESSIVE RESULTS ¶6. In Central Asia, the U.S. government, through USAID, has concentrated health reform resources on support for the cost-effective primary health care (PHC) model since the early- to mid-nineties. This investment has produced impressive results. These results vary in scope and depth across the Central Asian region, with Kyrgyzstan demonstrating the greatest advances -- as well as the greatest potential for capitalizing on positive momentum. ¶7. USAID has worked with legislators and public health officials in the Central Asian republics to gain high-level support for national health reforms, including specific restructuring measures that have resulted in many efficiencies and cost savings. USAID support in the primary healthcare policy arena has led to national decrees -- and in some cases increased financing -- that allow primary health care doctors to expand the scope of their practice. For instance, in Kyrgyzstan, USAID support has contributed to an increase in the share of government resources provided for cost-effective primary health care. As a proportion of public health resources, primary healthcare resources have grown from 16% when the reforms began to 38% in 2007. ¶8. USAID has supported the design and implementation of per capital payment systems for primary health care that increase transparency and accountability, important U.S. foreign assistance objectives. USAID funds have supported the decentralization of many decision-making authorities to health facility managers to improve the responsiveness of health resources to local health problems. USAID has also worked with civil society groups and private citizens to better inform individuals on how to keep themselves and their families healthy, while improving access to information on patient rights and responsibilities within the reformed and restructured health system. ¶9. Ongoing work on restructuring the health system better enables citizens to seek care earlier by visiting out-patient facilities and their primary health care physician, rather than seeking care at the hospital level. This has prevented health complications and associated costs -- healthcare costs that can sometimes be catastrophic, especially for families with few resources. ¶10. COMMENT: Although U.S. investments have helped secure political support for primary health care, the acceptance of primary health care is still weak among medical professionals and the general public alike. USAID plans to focus more attention on the important role that general practitioners and family medicine professionals play in delivering high-quality primary care. This attention will include support for accreditation, licensing and continuing medical education programs. USAID also plans to support more targeted information campaigns that better communicate the benefits of health reforms -- including primary healthcare services -- to consumers across the Central Asia region. END COMMENT. HOAGLAND