It has been proposed to establish social
guarantees for medical and pharmaceutical workers in Kazakhstan. The
country is also set to enhance the status and attractiveness of the medical
profession. The members of the Senate, an Upper House of the Kazakh Parliament,
considered a draft law on healthcare in two readings and agreed with the main
innovations of the document, yet the MPs returned some articles to the Mazhilis
for revision. In particular, they suggested banning e-cigarettes advertising
and removed administrative responsibility for their sale, noting that this
provision is already covered in Kazakhstan’s Criminal Code. The draft law was
presented by MP Ainur Argynbekova to the session participants. According to
her, the amendments to the document include humanizing the responsibility of health
workers and doctors as well. The main legislative innovation is the implementation
of a model for insuring their professional liability, which involves considering
patient complaints by an independent commission to resolve conflicts on site,
namely within the medical institution or organization.
“The independent expert commission
comprises subject matter specialists, representatives of the patient and professional
medical associations, professional mediators and insurance companies. Employees
of the medical organization are not included in this independent commission. In
case the patient and their relatives are not satisfied with the consideration
of the complaint, they are eligible to appeal to the Committee for Medical and
Pharmaceutical Control, law enforcement agencies or judicial authorities,” said
Kazakh First Vice Minister of Health Timur Sultangaziyev.
