E/C.12/KGZ/CO/2-3

Kyrgyzstan (CESCR 07-07-2015)

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights considered the combined second and third periodic reports of Kyrgyzstan on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/C.12/KGZ/2-3) at its twenty-second and twenty-third meetings (see E/C.12/2015/SR.22 and 23), held on 1 and 2 June 2015, and adopted the following concluding observations at its fiftieth meeting, held on 19 June 2015.

Concluding observations

C. Principal subjects of concern and recommendations

Access to health care

22. The Committee notes with concern that access to health care is frequently limited, that health-care facilities are of poor quality and inadequately equipped, that the number of staff is insufficient and that they are poorly qualified. The Committee also notes with concern that:

(a) Discrimination in access to health care persists against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, women involved in prostitution, persons with disabilities, and persons living with HIV/AIDS;

(b) While abortion is legal, it is not covered by public health insurance, leading many women to resort to unsafe abortions;

(c) Legislation on the rights of patients concerning, inter alia, professional ethics and redress for medical errors is insufficiently implemented (art. 12).

The Committee recommends that the State party increase human, technical and financial resources allocated to the health sector, and:

(a) Monitor discrimination in access to health services and ensure that health professionals who hamper anyone’s access are duly sanctioned;

(b) Provide confidential access for everyone, including adolescents, to contraceptives and safe abortion services, and ensure that these services are fully covered by health insurance;

(c) Disseminate information on patients’ rights and ensure the availability of adequate implementation mechanisms, with particular focus on access to appropriate compensation in the event of medical errors.