Since the beginning of 2020, the Social Health Insurance Fund, by decision of the commission of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, has sent 47 patients for treatment abroad: 31 people have already received the necessary assistance in full, 16 Kazakhstanis continue to receive treatment.

Five more patients are awaiting referral for treatment, as the date of hospitalization is set at a later date.

As of October 1, 2020, the Social Health Insurance Fund signed contracts with foreign clinics in the amount of 787 million tenge.

The funds were used for bone marrow transplantation from an unrelated donor, organ transplantation, stereotaxic radiotherapy / radiosurgical treatment, and proton therapy. Thus, the main diseases that are treated abroad fall on the profiles of transplantation, hematology oncology, and oncology of individual organs.

“Kazakhstanis have been going for foreign treatment at the expense of the budget since 2012. This program was created to provide an opportunity to receive those types of high-tech services that are not yet sufficiently developed in our country or are not implemented, ”the Social Health Insurance Fund noted.

The referral of citizens for treatment abroad is carried out within the guaranteed volume of free medical care. The state also covers the travel expenses of the patient and those accompanying him.

The program does not apply to cases when patients travel to foreign medical clinics for treatment at their own expense.

To consider the feasibility of treatment abroad, the patient must contact the republican healthcare organization (research institute, medical center), which will issue an opinion on sending the patient for treatment abroad, provide a package of documents for consideration to the working body of the commission for organizing treatment abroad, operating on FSMS base. Information about the working body can be found at the link: https://fms.kz/en/content/napravlenie-grazhdan-na-lechenie-za-rubezh

The final decision is made by the expert commission of the Ministry of Health, which is a collegial body. Patients applying for treatment abroad can track the stages of consideration of documents using their application code in the section of the working body of the commission https://info.fms.kz/publicHome/(publicHomeOutlet:WorkBody) The application code is provided to patients by employees of the working body of the commission from the moment receipt of documents in the working body.

Kazakhstan cooperates with leading specialized clinics in Russia, Belarus, Turkey, South Korea, India, Germany, Spain, etc. The main criteria for choosing a foreign medical organization are the availability of the necessary treatment program, the use of innovative treatment methods, and pricing policy.

In addition, this program stimulates the development of high-tech medical services in Kazakhstan on the basis of republican medical organizations. Involved foreign specialists conduct master classes for local doctors.

Annually, over 100 patients are sent for treatment abroad at the expense of budgetary funds, more than 30 patients receive treatment in domestic medical organizations within the framework of master classes with the involvement of foreign specialists.