A beginner’s guide to health services in Tashkent

One thing I heavily underestimated when I moved abroad was my ability to communicate with health service providers outside of my home country. Indeed, it is one thing to order food at the restaurant or haggle at the bazaar with people that are in the international trade industry since generations back. It is a whole other problem to make someone very busy and underpaid understand that you have a sun allergy in a country where the sun shines 360 days a year, in broken Russian or Uzbek.

Part of the source of this underestimation probably comes from the fact that, before 25 years old, I did not even remotely need to go to the doctor. But then I turned 26 and old age set in….

Most of my encounters with health professionals in Tashkent have been nothing short of unfortunate, as you will read later, which has led me to dread going to the doctor at all here. And indeed, this winter, I have been pretty sick over and over again, but I did not dare to seek professional help by fear of renewed miscommunications, having to bother some of my local friends to help me with the language, etc.

So now that I have finally found places with professionals who can understand me I feel like I need to write this blog post so that no foreigner has to go through the confusion of adapting to the Uzbek health system again.

***DISCLAIMER***

Disclaimer 1: this is not at all a comment on the quality of the health system in Uzbekistan, this is merely a guide for people who do not know the ins and outs of Tashkent too well, yet and need some guidance regarding the health system.

Disclaimer 2: in this blog post, I talk about some health services available in English in Tashkent. However, just like I would not expect French medical staff to speak English, I am not asking Uzbek health professionals to speak English either. This is just an article informing foreigners that there are indeed health services in English in the city, a real privilege.

Disclaimer 3: I have absolutely no medical education whatsoever, so read my advice with this in mind.

***DISCLAIMER***

103	Public ambulance service
101	Fire service
1003	Covid hotline
1050	Rescue service

Table of Content

1. Table of Content
2. The public procedure
   1. Polyclinics
3. Private institutions
   1. To avoid at all cost: Shox International Hospital (SIH)
   2. Green Lukas: a clinic with English-speaking professionals
   3. Dentists
   4. The Tashkent International Clinic: a hospital for foreigners
4. For Covid
   1. PCR Tests
   2. Antigen autotests
   3. Coronavirus Vaccines
   4. Emergencies
5. Insurance
   1. Local insurance
   2. International insurance

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The public procedure

Just like in any civilized country, free health care in Uzbekistan is considered a human right. As a result, free access to health services is the rule here, including for foreigners, who are human as well, in case there was any doubt about that.

Polyclinics

💉 What polyclinics can do

• Provide medical leave certificates

In Uzbekistan, a medical leave is called Bolnichniy. You can only get those at public institutions. Usually, a bolnichniy is “opened” for you at the first consultation and “closed “a few days later when you come back for your final check up all recovered.

• Provide a range of medical services;

The number of services found in polyclinics depends on the size of the institution. Most of the time, these will all host basic medicine specialties: general practitioner, dentist, eye doctors, etc.

• Administer covid vaccines (see below)
• Administer general vaccination to adults and children.

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So the first thing that you can do – and that Uzbeks usually do – when you are sick is go to the Polyclinic. In Tashkent, polyclinics are organized by district, so you should look for the polyclinic nearest your house if you need health assistance. Sometimes, you might be sent to a bigger polyclinic which will have more staff and material.

Usually, the way it works is that the nurse or doctor at the reception will check your address to make sure that you are at the right place, ask about your symptoms, give you a number, and direct you to the professional most likely to be able to help you. If it’s your first time at the polyclinic, it might be a good idea to bring a blank notebook, which the doctors will use to build your medical history at this place until you move to another neighbourhood.

The positive side of polyclinics

The good thing about polyclinics is, of course, that they are free. As a result, all the analyses that you will do there will be free, as well as doctor appointments. Sometimes they might send you to a private practice for a scan, but prices are still reasonable there.

Polyclinics are also focused on preventive medicine, so doctors really try to take good care of you and analyze all aspects of your health.

The negative side of polyclinics (for foreigners)

For foreigners, the negative aspects of polyclinics is that the only languages spoken there are Uzbek and Russian. Mind you, this is the same in every country where the national language is not English. But this means that even with a friend translating for you, it will be quite difficult to make your needs understood by the doctors. This is spoken from experience.

Another difficult thing about polyclinics is that the processes there sometimes are more automatic than ad hoc. For this reason, if doctors do not understand you, they will just send you out with a never-ending list of analyses to perform: blood samples, urine analysis, scans, etc., to try to figure out what’s wrong with you. So, if all you need is a little rest, this path might not be for you.

As an example, last June I had a sun allergy, but I could not explain my symptoms well to the doctors, for whom the concept of a sun allergy would probably have been too alien anyway (Uzbekistanis do not fare well without sun)… Because of this lack of understanding and the uniqueness of my condition in Uzbekistan, the health professionals proceeded to take my blood pressure, and since they could not find my pulse, just sent me off to different types of cardiologists… In the end I just went back home and waited a week for the condition to disappear, which was better than running around the city to do every possible health analysis they asked me to do.

Private institutions

💉 What private institutions can do:

• Sometimes provide access to English-speaking health professionals;
• Provide paid vaccination services;
• Provide more modern services such as online consultations;

⚠️ What private institutions cannot do

• Provide medical leave certificates
• Prescribe anything that is not an over-the-counter drug

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So, I grew up in France at the turn of the millennium, when the health care system there was still a source of pride for French people, which means that I am very suspicious of anything private related to health.

But sometimes, you just don’t have a choice, because private health institutions sometimes provide different services than public ones in Uzbekistan.

To avoid at all cost: Shox International Hospital (SIH)

Before I start talking about safe private institutions, I need to warn you about one of them. This is not to hate on a specific brand, this is just because seeking medical help to Shox International Hospital has just become too dangerous. And for some reason, when foreigners have health problems, Uzbekistanis automatically bring them there. I think it is because this hospital was the first international one in Tashkent and used to provide quality services. But believe me, this is definitely not the case anymore!

Anecdote 1

In 2020, I caught a cold and my workplace asked me to go to Shox International Hospital to get tested for covid. At the time the virus was fairly new, and I did not really know the difference between the many different types of tests for covid, but I at least new the relevant test should be done through the nose. The nurses at SIH then tried to push me to do an antibody test, when I made it clear I needed a test to be diagnosed (PCR). In the end they won and I ended up with a completely useless analysis.

Another one of my friends, who actually managed to get a PCR test done there, then received a positive paper version and a negative PDF version of the test. When asked which one was true, the nurse answered that the patient could use whichever one she needed….

Anecdote 2

A Korean colleague of mine recently had heart palpitation problems. When her Uzbekistani colleague took her to SIH, the doctor just measured her blood pressure, said she was completely fine, and gave my colleague random medicine that heavily upset her stomach.

So yeah, do not go to Shox International Hospital…

Green Lukas: a clinic with English-speaking professionals

How grateful was I when my Russian teacher recommended this clinic to me! Green Lukas is a private clinic situated in Mirzo Ulug’bek district, so a bit far from my home, but oh is it worth it! You can’t imagine the relief it is to be able to explain your symptoms in a language you know!

This private clinic is a bit similar to a polyclinic, in that it provides almost the same services (however no medical leave will be awarded here either). It also houses three English-speaking doctors. The price for one consultation is 150,000 soums. Additional fees might be added when they perform different types of analysis for you at the clinic.

Very good English spoken at Green Lukas, where doctors are calm and welcoming. Plus, the clinic is in the process of expanding its collaborations with different local insurance providers. Bonus points, they also offer online consultations.

Price: 150,000 soums (general consultation)

Address: near the French School in Tashkent

Dentists

Private practices

In Tashkent, I only ever went to a private dentist. No specific reason why, it just happened like that. And I am quite happy with my dentist. Mostly because he understands my broken Russian, is funny, and not too expensive. He also uses methods that are much more modern than the dental care I ever received in France, which is interesting to discover.

Price: 300,000 soums (general teeth maintenance)

Address: Small Ring Road, 121

Public practice

If showing up at this random address does not seem like a good idea to you, there are other options too. First of all, most polyclinics host dental cabinets. Again, these services will be provided in Uzbek and Russian. No surprise there.

You might have a better chance of finding dental services in English at the Tashkent State Dental Institute (TSDI). The TSDI is actually among one of the oldest medecal higher education institutions in Tashkent. This institute provides free dental consultations for outsiders. The downside: you will be observed by groups of students learning about dental care while a dentist-teacher checks your teeth. However, there is a real possibility that students and teachers at the TSDI actually speak English. And added bonus, the consultation is free.

Price: free (general teeth maintenance)

Address: 103, Taraqqiyot Street

The Tashkent International Clinic: a hospital for foreigners

I have never been to the International Clinic in Tashkent, but this is the institution the French embassy recommends to the French community in Uzbekistan for health issues. Since it seems that all services there are performed in English by expat doctors, I imagine that the prices there are much higher, so make sure to ask about this before getting treated.

Price: NA

Address: Talimarjon Street

For Covid

Coronavirus has been completely ousted from the media since the war in Ukraine started, but the disease is still out there and we never know if airlines will not randomly start asking for PCR tests again, so here is some advice:

PCR Tests

The Embassy of the United States in Tashkent provides a list of places that perform PCR tests. In my opinion, the best place to go is Intermed Innovation. These laboratories near Alay Bazaar are very well organized and keep patient records, so no need to register every time you go there. The procedure is fast and smooth, and the nurses are nice. It is also open 24/7, regardless what the U.S. Embassy says on their website.

Price: 230,000 soums (PCR test)

Address: Alay Bazaar’s parking lot

Antigen autotests

I could not find any autotests for covonavirus in physical pharmacies or supermarkets in Tashkent. However, I bought a box of ten antigen tests in this online pharmacy. They arrived at my place via a Yandex delivery.

Coronavirus Vaccines

Once again, foreigners being human beings, they also have access to free covid vaccination in Uzbekistan. To get vaccinated for covid, you can go to your neighbourhood’s polyclinic. Polyclinics receive random covid vaccine stocks, depending on what the country has been buying or which foreign country donated what. Usually, they will have one of the following three vaccines available: Moderna, Sputnik V, and the Sino-Uzbek ZF-UZ-VAC2001 vaccines. Due to the bias of our international institutions, the two last vaccines of the list have yet to be recognised by the WHO, even though the testing process for the Sino-Uzbek vaccine – at least – was performed according to the right scientific standards.

For better access to internationally recognised vaccines, you will have to go to a private clinic or hospital. Usually the price of such a service is around 300,000 soums or more, depending on the popularity of the vaccine. The Tashkent International Clinic, for example, administers WHO-approved vaccines, upon appointment.

Emergencies

If you get infected with covid and it does not go down well, it seems that the best thing to do would be to go to a public hospital. In case such a situation happens, it is best to contact your employer for help and translation.

Insurance

As a French citizen, I don’t really believe in insurance either. Especially since my mother works at a bank that stopped insuring campings in France because of increased risks of forest fire. Then, I ask astonished, what is the point of an insurance??? Still, I will provide here a quick recap of the poor health insurance choices available in Uzbekistan right now.

Local insurance

The only adjective that comes to mind to qualify available insurance choices in Tashkent is… laughable. In general, employers will provide health insurance plans from Gross Insurance. Here is a summary of their services:

• Health coverage up until $300/year;
• Only emergency dental services covered;
• Covid-related fees not covered.

On top of this poor service, Gross Insurance’s first partner is Shox International Hospital, so, yeah. You get the picture.

International insurance

I once looked at international insurance policies for French expatriates before coming to Uzbekistan. It was $400/month for one person minimum. In Uzbekistan, this can amount to a large proportion of one’s salary. So, I recommend doing what an American colleague of mine did: marry someone working in the public sector in the States and have their insurance cover you as well for half the normal price.

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And if you cannot find such a partner, remember: one apple a day keeps the doctor away! 😉