This content was formerly published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
Ranokhon Burhonova is recovering from cataract operation that had troubled her perspective.
There are many clinics in Burhonova’s local Tajikistan providing cataract surgery, a fairly simple procedure. However, the 59-year-old past nurse from northern Sughd Province performed the activity in neighboring Uzbekistan.
” I paid about$ 800 for the surgery in Tashkent in late September”, she said. In Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the charges are essentially the same. The quality of the attention was, in my opinion, the most crucial element.
Burhonova says she has “lost faith” in physicians at house after many , reports , of wrong symptoms and medical , fraud.
” I’m not saying we do n’t have good doctors in Tajikistan, but I did n’t want to take any risk, especially when my eyesight is at stake”, she said.
Six weeks after the treatment, she intends to go back to Tashkent to see her physician for a follow-up session.
Some middle-class Tajiks and other nearby Central Asians looking for better quality and reasonably priced medical care have chosen Uzbekistan as their top medical-tourism location. Some people seek professional medical care that is not accessible in their native tongue.
According to Uzbek official figures, 57, 380 Afghan people traveled to Uzbekistan from January to August for health care. The figure is a corresponding 100 % increase over the same time next year, when 28,600 Time traveled to Uzbekistan for medical reasons.
Tajik people began exploring secret medical procedures in Uzbekistan in 2018 after Tashkent introduced three-month, visa-free go for its Central Eastern companions.
After the edges were closed in response to a suspension during the coronavirus pandemic, health hospitality has flourished in recent years.
The availability of inexpensive lodging and meals, as well as the lack of governmental complication, and the prevalence of Russian-language barriers have made Uzbekistan even more appealing to international patients.
Most Time who seek medical care in Uzbekistan are middle school and can afford to make several visits to the adjacent state for interviews, care, and follow-up meetings.
Those who are better off often opt for hospitals and clinics in China, Iran, and Russia.
Nazokat, a 48-year-old Tajik patient who did n’t want to give her last name for privacy reasons, travels to Tashkent every three months so her doctor can monitor her recovery.
Following a long-term hepatitis C infection, a doctor in Tajikistan determined that Nazokat had stage 4 liver disease in November.
” In Tajikistan, I had a powerful six-month care that killed the disease, but I continued feeling restless. My family advised me to observe specialists in Tashkent”, she told RFE/RL.
” It saved my life. I then realize that I’ve come a long way to soon. My problem was close to developing into cirrhosis”, said Nazokat.
Uzbek Stats and Dushanbe Issues
Tajik authorities have refuted Tajistan’s statistics on health hospitality, which show that Tajiks are increasingly looking for treatment overseas.
Dushanbe criticized it as “impossible” when Tashkent published the number of Time who traveled to Uzbekistan last year for health reasons in 2023, putting it at about 43, 200 people.
In response to the Uzbek speech, Tajik Health Minister Jamoliddin Abdullozoda said at the moment,” This number does not represent reality.”
” These figures were taken from the information of the border-crossing factors”, he said.
Abdullozoda added that many people who travel across the border use their purpose for traveling as “medical treatment”- perhaps to avoid asking any questions later, even if it is unfounded.
The Persian health minister claimed that his nation offers sufficient medical care, with 896,600 patients admitted to Tajikistan in 2023. Some 314, 800 of them underwent therapies, he said.
But some Time complain about a shortage of experts beyond the major cities, with hundreds of medics , moving to Russia , in recent years for better income.
Regional Hub
The Uzbek authorities supports clinical travel as a component of the tourism sector.
In order to draw in foreign people, the government introduced reduced medical-visa requirements for foreigners in 2019. Official go websites promote Uzbek clinics and sanatoriums to draw in foreigners.
Besides Tajiks, who make up the majority of international individuals, tens of Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, and Russians have opted for medical treatment in Uzbekistan.
According to Uzbek position numbers 8, 542 Kazakh, 6, 704 Kyrgyz, 1, 299 Russian, and 672 Azerbaijani people traveled to Uzbekistan for health solutions from January to August.
The statistics show a rise over the same time last year, when there were 7, 200, and 800, both, patients from Kazakhstan and Russia. Double more medical tourists from Kyrgyz and Turkmen were present.