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DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-10 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 30th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY                           
ISSN – 2767-472X 

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   https://masterjournals.com/index.php/CRJH 

 

STUDYING THE HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM 
IN UZBEKISTAN DURING THE YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE 

 

Mukhabbat Madirimovna Makhmudova 

Department Of Propaedeutics Of Internal Medicine Tashkent Medical Academy Urgench Branch 

Urgench, Uzbekistan 

 

 

ABSTRACT  
 
The article briefly highlights the history of the study of the health problem by Uzbek scientists in a certain 
period of time. The works of the authors are divided into groups based on their quality, nature and focus. 
Monographic and dissertation research is especially highlighted. Used methods of chronological and 
comparative analysis, particular attention is paid to the study of orientalists of Uzbekistan and publications 
of foreign authors. It is recognized that as a result of the implementation of the results of dissertation 
research by individual authors, there is an optimization of the structure of health care authorities and a 
decrease in the level of disease in the population.   
Over the years of independence, a health care reform program has been implemented. Much has been done 
to improve its quality and culture of timeliness and efficiency. A network of urgent emergency care, rural 
medical outpatient clinics and city polyclinics, multidisciplinary specialized clinics, scientific centers has 
been created. Medical care for women and children of the country is provided at the level of world standards, 
personnel training is carried out in 14 medical universities and one pharmaceutical institute, in 85 medical 
colleges. Advanced training and retraining of medical personnel is carried out in universities and an 
advanced training institute. 
At present, it is one of the most important branches of the country’s national economy. As a result of socio-
economic and medical measures in Uzbekistan, medical care has become universal and publicly available, 
such dangerous diseases as cholera, plague, smallpox, parasitic typhus, trachoma have been eliminated, and 
the incidence of many others has been reduced. Over the past 10 years, the incidence of the population with 
such socially dangerous ailments as congenital defects by 32.4%, infectious diseases by 40%, the incidence of 
the upper respiratory tract has decreased by 4.2 times. The incidence of diphtheria, paratyphoid fever, 
poliomyelitis, malaria has been completely eradicated [1].       
The health care system employs about 650 thousand people (this is almost 10 percent of the able-bodied 
population of the republic), including more than 84 thousand doctors and 500 thousand paramedical 
workers. An extensive network of medical institutions in Uzbekistan is capable of providing the necessary 
medical and preventive care to the entire population. 
 
KEYWORDS: - Uzbekistan, health care history, monograph, dissertation, doctors, rape, scientists, etc. 
 
 



CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 31-36, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-10 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 30th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY                           
ISSN – 2767-472X 

32 

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INTRODUCTION 

In 1991, Uzbekistan gained its independence. By 
this time, a centralized state health care system 
had been formed in the republic. During the 
years of independence, it has become one of the 
most important sectors of the economy. The 
history of the development of the healthcare 
system in the republic has been in the focus of 
research scientists, doctors and public figures. As 
a result, the number of scientific papers devoted 
to the problem is growing. Over time, they 
multiply again and research is conducted in the 
spirit of the times. 

Research methods: Periodicity and comparative 
analysis methods were used. 

Purpose and mission 

 From the point of view of historiography, it is 
possible to analyze the existing research work by 
dividing it into several parts. The first group can 
include the works of authors who were directly 
involved in the process and based on generalized 
documents based on their own knowledge. 
Among the authoritative studies are those who 
once served as Minister of Health - Academician 
Sh.I. Karimov, professors F.G. Nazirov, A.I. 
Ikramov, A.V. Olimov, Deputy Minister D.A. 
Asadov’s work stands [2.160;2-5;65-74549-555]. 
The published works of the above-mentioned 
authors differ in quality and degree. Some of 
them not only collected interesting information, 
but also managed to write meaningful scientific 
works based on in-depth analysis, study and 
generalization of them. 

The second group includes scientific works of co-
authors on the problems of the health care 
system of the republic. In particular, in 1998, 
academician Sh.I. Karimov has published a 
monograph entitled “Health in Uzbekistan: 
Problems and Prospects”. Scientists of the 
Tashkent Institute of Postgraduate Medical 

Education A.Yu. Ibrohimov, D.A. Asadov and P.R. 
Menlikulov wrote a good article on the main 
directions of health care reform in the country 
[3.55-57]. Professor D.A. For the first time in the 
country, Asadov and his co-authors tried to show 
a cost-effective approach to health care reform, 
the peculiarities and prospects of its 
development [4.57].  

The third group includes a number of scientific 
papers devoted to the analysis of the activities 
carried out in the health care system. In 2013, 
the collection “Primary health care in 
Uzbekistan: achievements and challenges” was 
published [5.127]. It summarizes the results of 
the reform of primary health care in the country 
over the past 10-15 years. The book is based on 
the projects of the Ministry of Health, the World 
Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank 
(WB) “Health-1-2”.  

Valuable analytical information and suggestions 
can be found in the following publications: 
“Improving the training of primary care 
physicians in Uzbekistan” [6.14], “Assessment of 
telemedicine development in the Republic of 
Uzbekistan”, “Strategy and development of e-
health” [7], “Reforming the financing and 
management of the primary health care system” 
[8.84], “Uzbekistan: Health System Analysis”, 
“Health System Financing” [9].  

In 2015, Professor M. Mahmudov wrote a book 
entitled “Doctors Training Center in Khorezm.” 
[10.152] Journalist L. Sailkhonova published an 
article on the training of doctors at the Urgench 
branch of the Tashkent Medical Academy [11]. 
Researcher D.G. Tashmuhammedova analyzed 
the process of training highly qualified scientific 
and medical personnel in the country on the 
basis of the Higher Attestation Commission 
(HAC) [12.122-124]. In 2017, the Russian 
Medical Journal published an article entitled 
“Development of the health care system in 
Uzbekistan” [13].  



CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 31-36, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-10 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 30th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

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33 

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The fourth group includes fundamental works of 
historians, economists, medical scientists on the 
general history of Uzbekistan, the history of 
medicine and health, monographs. In this regard, 
M.M. Mahmudov and B.H. Umurzakov’s 
monograph “Health in Uzbekistan (historical 
records)” has a special place [14.104].  Because 
the book was published on the eve of 
independence, the authors were forced to cover 
limited details of recent history.  

In January 2000, Karshi State University lecturer 
G.E. Muminova PhD on “Medicine and health in 
Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya regions in 1946-
1990: problems and consequences” [15.28] and 
in December 2018 defended his doctoral 
dissertation on “History of the health care system 
in Uzbekistan in the Soviet era (1917-1991)” 
[16.54]. Although the author did not attempt to 
shed light on the years of independence, taking 
into account the periodic boundary, he did focus 
on some problems in the process of 
substantiating the relevance of the topic and in 
the concluding part. 

In November 2019, Samarkand-based researcher 
S.A. Jumanov defended his doctoral dissertation 
on “History of the development of the main 
directions of the health system in Uzbekistan 
(1991-2015) [17.50].  It provides a partial 
analysis of the overall work done during the 
years of independence to develop the industry 
and address the shortcomings. However, the 
author tries to substantiate the misconception 
that drugs are stored in warehouses of extremely 
dangerous and toxic chemicals [17.13]. 
Medicines created for medical needs are 
becoming more and more commercial today and 
sometimes harm patients instead of benefiting 
them.  

The problems of reducing the morbidity and 
mortality of pregnant women and pregnant 
women in the ecologically unfavorable situation 
in the South Aral Sea region are reflected in the 

doctoral dissertation of O.A. Otaniyozova. In the 
course of research, the author identified the 
prevalence of diseases such as anemia, tonsillitis, 
gastritis, hepatitis, renal rheumatism among 
women and girls [18.7] 

Researcher A.K. Hamroev’s doctoral dissertation 
on “Improvement of organizational work against 
drug-resistant tuberculosis in the Aral Sea 
region” was defended in 2015. The research is 
based on the activities carried out in the Republic 
of Karakalpakstan in 1991-2011, the results of 
research conducted with the participation of 
medical staff of Nukus, Chimbay, Karauzak and 
Takhtakor districts and the author to study the 
prevalence of tuberculosis in 2003-2011.  

In the course of the research, the author came to 
the conclusion that in Karakalpakstan, some 
work is being done in the organization of TB 
diagnosis and treatment. The number of TB 
facilities and their beds was 1.8 times higher 
than needed. Therefore, the dissertation 
provides practical recommendations on 
optimizing the number of these institutions and 
their places [19.56]. 

Special mention should be made of the 
contribution of orientalists to the coverage of the 
life and work of Central Asian scientists. In 
particular, thanks to many years of work of the 
corresponding member of the Academy of 
Sciences of Uzbekistan U.I. Karimov, the great 
Abu Rayhan Beruni’s work “Kitab as-Saydona” 
(“Pharmacognesia”) was studied and published. 
Orientalists A. Irisov  [20.81] and S.U. Karimova 
[21. 10-20; 302; 126] as a result of his scientific 
research, the pages of the rich heritage and life of 
Abu Ali ibn Sina were illuminated. Academician 
D. Yunusova [22.140-145;535], Doctors of 
History B.A. Abduhalimov [23.33-39], M. 
Hasanov [24.126;368], Associate Professor H. 
Xikmatullaev’s [25.81;80]  the invaluable 
contribution of Central Asian scientists to the 
development of science, including medicine, in 



CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 31-36, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-10 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 30th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

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ISSN – 2767-472X 

34 

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return for their tireless research and fruitful 
work has been widely covered. 

The fifth group includes the works of foreign 
scientists and researchers. Ignoring the content 
and essence of their scientific work, it was 
considered a fabrication based on fake research. 
But in time, foreign scientists began to obtain 
new information about the former Soviet 
republics and tried to accurately cover the real 
situation based on them [26.237]. At the same 
time, some of them do not recognize the changes 
in the development of the world and the health 
system in Central Asia. For example, in 2008, the 
American Michael Tenner wrote a large article 
entitled “Comparative Analysis of the Health 
System in Different Countries” in an attempt to 
highlight their strengths and weaknesses [27]. 
Unfortunately, the article does not contain a 
single word in the context of “there is a state 
called Uzbekistan, which also carries out public 
health work”. 

Among foreign scholars, economist I.M. 
Sheiman’s monograph on “Health System 
Management and Financing Reform” is 
noteworthy. Although the large-scale study deals 
with the activities carried out in the healthcare 
system of the Russian Federation, the author’s 
conclusions and recommendations are valuable 
for Uzbek specialists. 

Information published in periodicals and 
Internet sites also plays an important role in 
covering the history of healthcare in Uzbekistan 
and monitoring the process of radical reforms in 
the sector. They help in timely observation, 
analysis and objective coverage of events and 
happenings. 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 

 A brief analysis of the available sources and 
literature shows that the state of public health in 
Uzbekistan, its achievements and shortcomings, 
as well as the selfless work of its staff are not 

fully covered in the pages of historical works. 
Hence, since the problem has not found its own 
comprehensive in-depth analysis, it needs to be 
studied more broadly from the point of view of 
historiography.  

CONCLUSION 

The research focuses on the theoretical 
development of strategies and concepts of health 
care reform in the years of independence, 
strengthening its funding, management and 
logistics, strengthening key links in primary care 
- emergency care and sanitary-epidemiological 
control, formation of a system of rural medical 
centers and family clinics, further improvement 
of medical services for mothers and children, 
training and retraining of specialists, it is 
necessary to pay attention to such topical issues 
as the development of science, the expansion of 
international relations, the role of public 
organizations in the provision of health care to 
the needy. 

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CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 31-36, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-10 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 30th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-10 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
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