Asian development bank

Gender and Health

Uzbekistan prioritizes government-based health programs with well-funded budgets and active cooperation with international organizations. there has been significant progress in several globally recognized indicators since 2014. Maternal and infant mortality rates have decreased substantially, and the country has achieved the United Nations Millennium development Goal in this area. In the last 20 years, maternal mortality decreased from 20.7 to 17.4 per thousand, and infant mortality decreased from 24.2 to 10.7 per thousand. the number of pregnant women with anemia decreased from 45.1% in 2014 to 38.2% in 2016.

xx Executive Summary
despite significant progress, system inefficiencies should be the first priority of health-care reforms. the separation of health care from the social protection system is still an issue; the former is associated mainly with disease treatment and medication, and the social safety net is not viewed holistically. Major barriers to accessing affordable, high-quality health care, especially in rural areas, include long distances to secondary and tertiary health care, out-of- pocket expenditures, and subpar health-care services.

the most recent decree of the president of Uzbekistan envisages “female consultations” in the structure of family clinics and rural medical posts charged with responsibility for medical

consultation with adolescent girls and women of childbearing age. these developments allow for assumptions on a more holistic approach toward the health-care system and social safety nets.

traditionally, health care has been considered a female profession, but it relates mostly relates to secondary medical vocational education and related professional positions. In 2016, there were significantly more male students in higher medical education (13,200) than female students (8,700). Likely reasons were the longer education; the study period coinciding with the traditionally favored age for marriage and childbirth; and financial costs that become especially problematic after marriage.

In 2017, adB began collaborating with the government for the primary Health Care Improvement project, which focuses on providing newly constructed rural family polyclinics with equipment and a skilled workforce.

the strategy aims to mainstream gender into the health sector by

• supporting continuous monitoring of associated costs and efforts to achieve universal health coverage;

  
  

• upgrading health care projects with Gaps to the effective gender mainstreaming (eGM) category as part of the loan agreement, and allocate the necessary resources for implementation; and

  
  

• supporting a 50% quota for female technical and professional staff in capacity- building interventions regarding the use of medical innovations, including the Health Management Information System within the primary Health Care Improvement project.