Universal health coverage: opportunities and challenges (on the materials of the International conference on December 10, 2021 in Almaty, dedicated to the Universal Health Coverage Day)

On December 10, 2021, an International conference dedicated to the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day was held at the Al Farabi Kazakh National University. The purpose of the conference was to support and develop the main ideas of the UHC. The conference was attended by more than 100 representatives of universities and the medical community from Kazakhstan and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan). The reports of the conference participants were devoted to the discussion of global problems of the development and strengthening of primary health care and the achievements of UHC both at the level of the WHO European Region and in individual CIS countries. The issues of training doctors for primary health care, the successes, and prospects of the development of the primary health care system, issues of assessing and improving the quality of medical care, approaches to providing HEU during the COVID-19 pandemic were highlighted.

The conference resolution noted the need to consider the principles of the UHC when developing and making proposals to regulatory documents, initiate scientific research in the field of development and effectiveness of PHC models in the CIS countries, review educational programs for the training of PHC specialists taking into account the ideas and principles of HEU. It was also decided to hold an annual International conference “UHC: Opportunities and challenges”, to carry out joint publications on HEU at the country and regional levels.