[Today’s Prayer] “Apartments first, no waiting”… Kyrgyzstan offers unprecedented incentives as doctor shortage becomes urgent

Central Asian Kyrgyzstan is set to significantly expand social support for doctors in the public health sector. The government plans to resolve the outflow of medical personnel by doubling doctors’ salaries and prioritizing the supply of apartments eligible for low-interest mortgage loans.

According to Times of Central Asia (TCA), a Kyrgyzstan media outlet, on the 5th (local time), Kyrgyzstan’s Minister of Health Kanibek Dosmambetov said during a recent visit to a national medical facility in the capital, Bishkek, “Starting this April, we will increase salaries by 100% for all doctors nationwide.”

In addition, the government plans to provide a total of 5,000 mortgage-loan apartments to medical personnel on a priority basis without requiring them to go through the general waiting list. With government support applied, the loan interest rates are reportedly set at relatively low levels.

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Minister Dosmambetov said, “The Ministry of Health must effectively reform the healthcare system and establish a sustainable and transparent operational framework,” adding, “Improving medical infrastructure, advancing maternal and child health, and strengthening public health and disease prevention services are also key tasks.” He emphasized that the coming period will be a major turning point for Kyrgyzstan’s healthcare system.

In Kyrgyzstan, with a population of about 7 million, it is estimated that there is a nationwide shortage of at least 5,000 doctors. The vacancy rate for public health medical personnel is reported to exceed 45%.

The doctor shortage is particularly pronounced in rural areas. While the number of doctors per 10,000 people in Bishkek is about 19, it drops to just 9.3 in Talas Province, a rural region in the northwest. By specialty, there is a severe shortage of medical personnel, especially in family medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology.

Analysts say the background to the doctor shortage is a combination of structural factors, including low wage levels and a high proportion of aging doctors nearing retirement. In addition, of the approximately 2,000 new doctors graduating from universities each year, only about 25% enter national medical institutions, while the rest are known to go to private medical facilities.

Source: Nate News

This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” (Matthew 8:17)

We hear the news that as the shortage of doctors in Kyrgyzstan becomes severe, the Kyrgyzstan government has stepped in to raise doctors’ salaries and even prioritize the supply of apartments for housing at low interest rates.

Especially in rural areas, the shortage of doctors is so severe that it is difficult to receive medical care, and there is a major lack of medical personnel in family medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology, which are the core of public health. Lord, please look upon the situation in Kyrgyzstan, where timely treatment for children and women is difficult.

Jesus, who bore the infirmities of all humanity and carried our diseases by taking up the cross, please go to the sick in Kyrgyzstan and heal them.

May the church in Kyrgyzstan strive to improve the underdeveloped medical situation, care through prayer, and serve each soul one by one, so that there may be grace in Kyrgyzstan for healing to be received in the name of Jesus Christ.

May the global church work together in partnership in this effort, strive to send more medical missionaries, and send the necessary medicines and supplies to care for Kyrgyzstan.

And so, may testimonies abound in Kyrgyzstan of those who have received healing through the power of the cross, and may they rise up as a great Central Asian army that shines the Lord’s light beyond the Silk Road to the ends of the earth!