Kazakhstan to Change How Schoolchildren Receive Medical Checkups

Kazakhstan plans to gradually change the format of school medicine from September 1, 2026. The Ministry of Health wants to fully digitize preventive medical checkups for children and create an electronic child health passport, Orda.kz reports.

According to the ministry, the current system is not effective enough and often remains too formal. Doctors frequently focus on the number of children examined rather than the quality of diagnosis. Magripa Embergenova, director of the Maternal and Child Health Department, said a shortage of specialized doctors and the heavy workload on medical staff reduce the amount of time spent examining each child. As a result, diagnoses can become superficial, and health problems may be detected less effectively.

Another issue is insufficient tracking of children with special educational needs and disabilities.

To solve the existing problems, it is proposed to implement a set of measures, including transforming the current model of preventive examinations, introducing digital solutions for processing results, and delegating some functions to mid-level medical workers,the ministry said.

The Health Ministry plans to equip schools with digital electrocardiographs, pulse oximeters, height-and-weight measuring devices, otoscopes, and telemedicine systems. Later, schools may also receive intraoral cameras, plantographs, and autorefractometers. These devices will be able to automatically transfer data to the ministry’s information systems.

Health Minister Akmaral Alnazarova instructed officials to integrate all data on children’s health into Health Ministry systems.

All data on children’s health should be systematically accumulated, analyzed, and maintained throughout a person’s life. This will ensure continuity of monitoring and improve the effectiveness of early disease detection, she said.

Original author: Saule Abdykamit

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