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Background: During the 1990–2000, Kazakhstan experienced a decline in the number of healthcare professionals working in rural areas. Since 2009, the national government has been implementing financial incentives to encourage healthcare professionals to relocate to rural areas. This study aims to investigate the temporal and spatial patterns in the distribution of the rural healthcare workforce and evaluate the impact of this incentive scheme. Methods: Interrupted Time Series Analysis using ARIMA models and Difference in Differences analyzes were conducted to examine the impact of the incentive scheme on the density of different categories of the healthcare workforce in rural Kazakhstan in the period from 2009 to 2020. Results: There was a significant increase in the number of rural healthcare professionals from 2009 to 2020 in comparison to the period from 1998 to 2008. However, this increase was less pronounced in per capita terms. Moreover, a decline in the density of internists and pediatricians was observed. There is substantial variation in the density of rural nurses and physicians across different regions of Kazakhstan. The incentive scheme introduced in 2009 by the government of Kazakhstan included a one-time allowance and housing incentive. This scheme was found to have contributed insignificantly to the observed increase in the number of rural healthcare professionals. Conclusion: Future research should be undertaken to examine the impact made by the incentive scheme on other medical subspecialties, particularly primary practitioners. Addressing the shortage of healthcare workers in rural areas is a complex issue that requires a multifaceted approach. Aside from financial incentives, other policies could be considered to increase relocation and improve the retention of healthcare professionals in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor or suboptimal knowledge of appropriate antibiotic use is a cause for global concern and little is known about Central Asian countries. Therefore, this survey is aimed at evaluating awareness about antibiotic use and resistance among the adult population of Kazakhstan. A cross-sectional study of a random sample was conducted between October 2021 and February 2022 among 727 individuals without medical education and followed the methodology described in the WHO report "Antibiotic Resistance: Multi-country public awareness survey". Half of the respondents (50.4%) received antibiotic therapy within the last 12 months, 40.1% had no prescription for this and 40.4% received no advice from a medical professional. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (65.3%) never heard about antibiotic resistance and 57.2% believed that it is worth requesting the same antibiotic if it helped to treat a similar condition previously. In general, knowledge about antibiotic use proved to be low in 82.1% of respondents and 91.9% agreed with the statement that a common cold requires antibiotics. There is a need for awareness-raising campaigns to improve the knowledge about antibiotic use and resistance in the population of Kazakhstan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heart failure (HF) is a global pandemic, affecting at least 26 million people worldwide and increasing prevalence, and is a serious public health problem as health care costs increase significantly with the aging population, the introduction of new technologies and treatments reduces the level of mortality from HF, but hospitalization is increasing, which makes it economically expensive. The GPs also express the need for a multidisciplinary approach to treating patients with HF, since the main problems are associated with uncertainty regarding clinical practice, how to provide evidence and how to work together in a team. The aim of our study is to study the management of patients with HF by general doctors. Methods: At the first stage, we conducted a literary search, than with a multidisciplinary team of general practitioners, public health specialists and decision makers developed a questionnaire to identify knowledge and management of patients with HF. The survey was conducted anonymously in 2018 among GPs of city. The local ethical commission considered questionnaire. Results: GP indicated that main etiology of HF is Ischemic 67,6%. Only 47.1% of doctors are analyzing hospitalized cases, Last three years completed training more than 89,6% physicians, and just 42,1 % developed any specific programs for patients with HF. 63.3% said that they explain the treatment, and 88.8% rehabilitation programs, how to change their way of life 78.8%, and how this will affect the daily life of 57.9%. Conclusions: There is a need to study the adherence of primary care physicians to clinical protocols and to identify the need to provide additional guidelines for the management of patients with HF, since the disease has comorbidities and sometimes clinicians find it difficult to ensure the correct treatment tactics. Therefore, the wrong tactics lead to unreasonable costs and inefficient distribution of health resources and has economic consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]