Health systems in transition : Uzbekistan

5.8 Long-term care
Long-term care in Uzbekistan is provided by social services which are 
outside the scope of the Ministry of Health. Financing is channelled through 
the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, which also defines eligibility. 
Rehabilitative facilities are in place for those in need of long-term care. Exact 
data on the scale and scope of public long-term care are, however, not available. 
Private long-term care facilities are non-existent.
5.9 Services for informal carers
Limited services provided by the social care system are available for informal 
carers, the number of which is unknown. These services are mostly confined 
to a limited period of paid sick leave for carers looking after children. 
5.10 Mental health 
In Uzbekistan, psychiatric care is integrated into the statutory public health 
system and included into the guaranteed package of medical services. While 
it is predominantly delivered in the public sector, the stigmatization attached 

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Health systems in transition
  
Uzbekistan
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to seeking mental health care might deter patients from utilizing the public 
sector and give rise to a demand for alternatives, which can include both private 
practices and private arrangements with publicly employed physicians. 
Officially, the public sector is the only provider of mental health services in 
Uzbekistan. It is estimated that about 3% of state health funding is utilized for 
mental health services; of this, 89% is spent on hospital services. Mental health 
services in the public sector are free. Medication coverage for mental health 
patients is relatively well funded and approximately 80% of medications seem 
to be provided for free by the government (WHO-AIMS, 2007). 
Since independence, some efforts have been undertaken to develop a legal 
framework for psychiatric care. The 
Law on psychiatric services
, adopted by 
the Parliament in 2000, defines the minimum government guaranteed package 
of psychiatric and social services for mental health patients. Relevant changes 
have also been made to the criminal code of the country, to which a new 
section related to the involuntary placement of patients in psychiatric inpatient 
institutions has been added. 
A number of initiatives were implemented in the public system of mental 
health care with the aim of shifting service delivery from inpatient to outpatient 
care. New outpatient facilities, such as centres for mental health promotion, 
specialized outpatient centres and child care services, were organized and new 
services, such as suicide prevention, were designed. A significant reduction in 
mental hospital beds was also implemented. 
In many countries, psychologists and social workers contribute significantly 
to the delivery of mental health care. In Uzbekistan, social services are not closely 
integrated with mental health care. Psychologists, although part of the health 
system at the point of delivery, are not fully integrated into the health system. 
The training of psychologists falls outside the scope of medical education and 
is outside the remit of the Ministry of Health. Health professionals involved in 
the delivery of mental health care are included in the category of professions 
with occupational hazards. This entitles them to special provisions, such as a 
lower age for retirement, additional vacation and mark-ups on their salaries.