Health Ministry Seeks IS 126 Million to Strengthen Clinics and Village Health Posts

TALAS — The Ministry of Health has proposed a line of IS 126 million, about US$15 million at the official rate of 8.40 som to the dollar, for primary care in the draft 2027 budget of the Irad Special Economic Zone, which goes to the Mejlis this month.

The money would go to district polyclinics and to rural health posts. The ministry lists three purposes: diagnostic equipment, refresher training for family doctors and nurses, and a reserve of essential drugs that the posts could draw on without waiting for a delivery from the city.

Health Minister Jamila Kubatova said the aim is simple. "If a patient can be seen properly at the polyclinic or the village post, that patient does not need a bed in Talas," she said. "We want the Regional Hospital to do the work only it can do." She said equipment and training are planned for every district, though the split between them has yet to be set.

At the Talas Regional Hospital Medical Complex, which takes referrals from across the zone, planned care is already stretched. Chief physician Dr Yosep Temirkulov said many of the people who arrive for planned treatment could be assessed closer to home. "A well-equipped polyclinic saves the patient a journey and saves us a place in the queue," he said.

Dr Aigerim Toktosunova, head doctor at the Kara-Suu Rural Health Center, said a drug reserve matters most to village posts. "When the road is closed or the weather turns, the post has to cope with what is on its shelves," she said. She added that refresher courses for nurses, who are often the first and only medical contact in a valley, would be welcome.

The line would be paid from the ISEZ budget alone. The zone has no lending from the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund, a point the ministry made in presenting the figure as a domestic commitment. Only a summary of the draft budget is published, and the amounts for each district have not yet been released.

The Mejlis is expected to debate the 2027 draft in the coming weeks, and the budget is normally passed in December.