Health systems in transition : Uzbekistan

Assessment of the health system
Although there are only limited system-wide data available on health system 
performance, a number of trends and challenges can be identified. The country 
has undertaken major efforts to improve the efficiency of the health system, 
ensure an equitable distribution of health facilities and protect vulnerable 
groups of the population from catastrophic health expenditure. Despite an 
increasing share of public expenditure on health, the high share of out-of-
pocket payments and the limited scope of the benefits package to include only 
primary and emergency care mean that financial protection of the population 
from the consequences of ill health is still limited, with resulting problems for 
health equity and access to services. Quality of care is increasingly recognized 
as a problem, with ongoing efforts to update treatment protocols, and to 
revise medical education, continuous professional development, and quality 
assurance and improvement frameworks. There are also efforts to improve 
allocative efficiency, with a higher share of resources devoted to the reformed 
primary health care system. Other challenges to health system performance 
in Uzbekistan include the practice of informal payments and the fact that user 
experience has so far been a rather neglected area of health service provision. 

---