Kazakh MP Dana Medeuova initiates law on medical workers' professional status

September 30, 2026 at 11:37 AM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Kazakh MP Dana Medeuova announced an initiative to draft a law on the professional status and guarantees of medical workers. The proposed law would revise pay to reflect qualifications and free doctors from bureaucratic tasks. She framed the issue as one of biological and national security, citing the pandemic's lesson.

Key Facts

Dana Medeuova, a member of the Kurultai, initiated a draft law titled "On the professional status and guarantees of medical workers' activities".
The draft proposes that the titles "врач" and "дәрігер" be protected by law, requiring medical education, confirmed qualification, and the right to professional practice.
Medeuova addressed her request to Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov and Health Minister Akmaral Alnazarova.
She stated that training a qualified doctor takes about ten years, while a weak system can destroy a specialist's potential in one day.

Legislative Initiative

Dana Medeuova announced the initiative during a Kurultai session, stating that the law would define the status of doctors, their professional guarantees, and mechanisms of legal protection. She argued that the issue goes beyond salaries and social support, touching on how to retain doctors in the profession and enable them to work normally. Medeuova said the pandemic showed that the resilience of the healthcare system depends primarily on medical personnel, not just equipment and medicines.

Proposed Reforms

The draft law calls for a flexible pay system that accounts for a doctor's qualifications and frees them from bureaucratic functions unrelated to treatment. Medeuova emphasized that doctors should treat patients rather than fill out endless reports. She proposed that the titles "врач" and "дәрігер" be legally protected, so that only specialists with medical education, confirmed qualifications, and the right to practice can use them. The deputy also called for an objective assessment of the personnel shortage, stressing the need to both attract new doctors and retain those already working in the system.

National Security Argument

Medeuova stated that the status of a doctor is a matter of biological and national security, not merely social justice. She argued that in conditions of critical threat to national security, a doctor must be able to act quickly and independently, requiring clear powers and legal protection for professional decisions. She noted that while medical equipment can be purchased and medicines produced or imported, the country is helpless without people in white coats when danger threatens.