Health Security Systems in Central Asia(Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan)

Abstract

The former Soviet Union’s health security system, commonly known as the Semashko Model, is primarily characterized by its provision of free-of-charge access to health services for all. The influence of the Semashko Model extended beyond the socialist bloc of Eastern Europe to other Western countries and even to the US. Meanwhile, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan surfaced on the world stage as emerging independent states. Both countries, from the beginning stages of their independence, even in the face of political, economic, and social hardships, exerted a great measure of effort to improve their deficient health care systems. There were moments of struggle in their course of trials and errors, but both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan today boast well-functioning universal health care systems. As efforts are underway to further advance their health care systems with e-health technologies, the prospect looms large for Korea, with its excellent track record of having a superior e-health system in place based on its outstanding information and communications technology, to collaborate with these Central Asian countries.