Interview with the chief physician of the City Clinical Hospital № 7 Almaty

Almaty. 3 May. Kazakhstan Today - Chief Physician of City Clinical Hospital No. 7 Almaty Marat Abdullayev answered the questions of Kazakhstan Today correspondent about the introduction of Mandatory Medical Social Insurance.

Kazakhstan Today: Marat Shatybaevich, could you tell us what mandatory medical insurance is and what are its advantages?

- Mandatory medical social insurance is a health care system. Why is mandatory social medical insurance first introduced, why is it called social insurance? Because our healthcare system and, in general, state policy - it is social and is aimed primarily at the benefit of the people. Why did it become necessary to create this system? Because health care is a resource-intensive branch of national economy. Health care is becoming more expensive every year, it will rise in price and become more expensive for various reasons. First of all, such research methods became routine, as, for example, ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and others. Very subtle methods of investigation have appeared, which allowed diagnosing diseases that were previously considered extremely difficult. We must understand that the appearance of these methods of research in the arsenal is very good for the doctor, for people who are sick, but at the same time they are extremely expensive. The history of health care development in other countries, the history of health care development in our country shows that health care will go up from year to year. And we must create a financially stable system that will meet all the challenges of today. These are the challenges, especially those related to the crisis ongoing for several years, these are the challenges related to the rise in the cost of health care, these are the challenges associated with providing the population of our country with modern, qualified medical assistance in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

Why is the system called "social health insurance"? Our health care should be preventive in nature, preventive in nature. We have this system, but we need to further develop it, we must optimize it, we must work very closely with people, with the population, so that everyone understands that health is wealth given to him from birth and about which He must worry. And our efforts should be aimed primarily at preventing and prophylaxis of these diseases.

Why did it become necessary to implement this system? If you notice when we gained independence, the population of our country was about 13 million. We lived 25 years, we are 26 years old and today we are 17 million. We have a country where the population is growing, but we should strive to ensure that there are more of us. We should be 25, 30, 40 million Why? A country where the population is large enough will be economically safe. Because of this, we need to take care of making us bigger so that people will be happy. Today, the proportion of older people and seniors increases, people in Kazakhstan have become better off living.

Due to the fact that the proportion of elderly and senile people is growing, the number of people suffering from non-communicable diseases such as arterial hypertension, ischemic heart disease, for example, diabetes mellitus, etc. - is also growing. And since the proportion of people suffering from chronic diseases is growing, we must take care that the diseases of these people do not progress. We must ensure to introduce methods of diagnosis and treatment in our practice that would allow to achieve a stable pathogenesis in patients even in the presence of these diseases.

Kazakhstan Today: That means that mandatory medical insurance makes medicine more affordable and cheap?

- Medicine is available now, but it will not become cheaper. The meaning of insurance is that the state established the Fund for Mandatory Social Health Insurance. The participants of this fund are, first of all, the state, which contributes to the Social Health Insurance Fund for certain groups of the population (14 groups of the population - pensioners, invalids, etc.). In addition, employers and employees will contribute to the fund. That is, 3 members in this fund. The fund will accumulate our funds, but for example, a simple figure - 10 people contributed their funds to this fund, but of 10 people, God forbid, only one got sick, that is, one person will be treated for these funds. People who contribute their money to this fund, we do not want to get sick, these funds will accumulate. This is correct. This is a normal approach. That is, we will all be participants in this fund, and being members of this fund, if it's God's will that we are healthy, but a part of the population is sick, we will support their health.

Kazakhstan Today: What kinds of medical services will be included in social insurance?

- Today it seems that there will be 2 packages of medical aid: a basic package and an insurance package. The basic package will exist for people who do not have an insurance policy, that is, when the condition threatens life. Anyone who does not even have an insurance policy will be provided with medical assistance that will save his life. This is the basic package. In addition to the basic package, out-patient care, preventive vaccinations, etc. The insurance package will include, in principle, what is available today, this is outpatient care, drug provision, specialized medical care, high-tech medical services, etc. That is all that is covered today.

Kazakhstan Today: How will these innovations affect the medical system and medical workers?

- Firstly, for the last 10 years we persistently tried to get the message across that we need to develop primary health care institutions - these are policlinics first of all. Why polyclinics? Because it is in polyclinics that work should be done to prevent diseases.

How will this affect the doctors? We have to work very hard to justify our appointment as doctors, but people should understand perfectly when they should consult a doctor, and in which cases they should take care of their own health. Here's how the medicine will change. In other words, the Constitution says "The joint responsibility of the citizen and the state for health". Everyone should be responsible for their health. We must take care of our health all the time. Every person under 40 lives on credit with their own health, and after 40 years is calculated with a loan with high interest.

Kazakhstan Today: Is the public and your patients ready for such innovations?

- Of course we should be ready!

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