Kyrgyzstan raises protection of healthcare workers in Mongolia

Healthcare workers face threats that go well beyond biological and chemical hazards, Kyrgyzstan’s healthcare workers’ trade union chairman Kaarmanbek Baidavletov said at an international conference in Sukhbaatar, Mongolia.

Speaking on occupational safety, Baidavletov identified aggression, physical violence and insufficient legal protection as increasingly serious dangers. “The main threat to the health and lives of healthcare workers in the workplace is no longer limited to biological or chemical factors. Aggression, physical violence and a lack of legal protection while performing official duties have become major threats,” he said.

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The main threat to the health and lives of healthcare workers in the workplace is no longer limited to biological or chemical factors. Aggression, physical violence and a lack of legal protection while performing official duties have become major threats.

He argued that tougher penalties must come with prevention and rapid intervention. “The law works after the fact, when a doctor has already suffered an injury or psychological trauma. We need not just a punitive system, but a comprehensive environment for preventing and immediately stopping risks,” Baidavletov said.

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The law works after the fact, when a doctor has already suffered an injury or psychological trauma. We need not just a punitive system, but a comprehensive environment for preventing and immediately stopping risks.

In Kyrgyzstan, unlawful acts against medical personnel can bring fines of up to 100,000 soms and prison terms of up to eight years. The healthcare workers’ union and the Ministry of Health are also registering violence cases, installing video surveillance and panic buttons, developing response protocols, and requiring medical facility managers to act when aggression occurs.

Kyrgyzstan became the first Central Asian country to ratify International Labour Organization Convention No. 190 on violence and harassment at work. At the conference, its delegation proposed an agreement providing mutual legal and advisory support for healthcare trade union members during business trips, training, internships and conferences. “Uniting our resources, we can create a system in which a healthcare worker in another Central Asian country will know that, if a problem arises, they will not be left to deal with it alone,” Baidavletov said.

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Uniting our resources, we can create a system in which a healthcare worker in another Central Asian country will know that, if a problem arises, they will not be left to deal with it alone.