Press Release: Health & Safety Conference

The BeNeLux Chamber of Commerce, together with the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce for Central Asia and the Union of German Industry in the Republic of Kazakhstan, held a joint "Health & Safety" conference at the 27th International "Healthcare" Exhibition — KIHE 2022 — from 18 to 20 May in Almaty.

In light of the Head of State's instructions on modernising the country's healthcare system, set out in the President's Addresses to the People of Kazakhstan, medical and pharmaceutical industry professionals discussed pressing issues facing Kazakhstan's healthcare system.

The conference was opened by Head of the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce for Central Asia Hovsep Vaskanyan and President of the BeNeLux Chamber of Commerce Association Denis Van den Weghe. Welcoming remarks were also given by the Ambassadors of Germany, Monika Iwersen, Belgium, Henri Vantieghem, and the Netherlands, André Carstens, to the Republic of Kazakhstan, Chairman of the Board of SK-Pharmacia LLP Mr Yerkhat Iskaliyev, and Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Belgium and Luxembourg Margulan Baimukhan and Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the Netherlands Askar Zhumagaliyev.

The conference comprised two panel sessions — "Pharmacy" and "Medical Services and Equipment" — moderated by Ruslan Sultanov, Chairman of the Board of the Economic Research Institute under the Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan.

The first panel session featured representatives of international companies such as Bayer, Janssen (part of the Johnson & Johnson group of companies), Bionorica and KazOrange, as well as the Kazakh company Kaz-Dia-Test, who presented the specifics of Kazakhstan's healthcare system, current realities and future challenges.

According to Lauma Valtere, General Director of Bayer KAZ, Kazakhstan's healthcare system is constantly improving, with particular attention paid to patients with oncological and rare diseases and diabetes. She noted that while certain successes have been achieved, several gaps remain in Kazakh patients' access to innovative medicines. One of these is the process for including a new drug in the state programme, which takes more than 5 years.

The speakers also shared their views on improving Kazakhstan's healthcare system.

Adlet Nazarbayev, Head of the Johnson & Johnson branch in Kazakhstan, explained the importance of protecting patent rights and offered a number of recommendations on patent protection and optimising the process for bringing innovative medicines to market.

Sholpanay Tashtenova, Marketing Director at Bionorica, explained the concept of phytoneering and highlighted Bionorica's position as the market leader in phytopharmaceuticals in Kazakhstan by the end of 2021.

Vitaliya Nesterova, representative of Kaz-Dia-Test LLP, noted the company's contribution to import substitution of medical diagnostic tests. The goal of their new project is to achieve market leadership in Kazakhstan in terms of range and volume of products through cooperation with world leaders in the manufacture of diagnostic test systems.

Alexander Diamandidis, General Director of Kazorange, noted that the company plans to focus on supplying high-quality medicines for urgent needs at attractive prices. The company plans to import medicines wholesale into Kazakhstan and is currently seeking a strategic partner to package these medicines in Kazakhstan.

The second panel session discussed the development of medical equipment in Kazakhstan. General Director of Siemens Healthcare LLP Markhabat Rakhimbayeva noted that Kazakhstan is a strategic partner of Siemens and has already purchased the only unit in all of Central Asia of the latest-generation "ARTIS Icono" — an icon of innovation indispensable in radiology, cardiology and surgery.

Artem Padeisky, Business Development Director for Healthcare in Central Asia, the Caucasus and Mongolia at Philips Health Systems, also stressed that medical equipment technology never stands still, and showed how Philips addresses complex challenges in modernising healthcare.

Following the conference, the parties agreed to continue the dialogue and to use the platform of the BeNeLux Chamber and the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce for Central Asia to develop proposals for improving and further developing the healthcare system of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Conference presentations:

Bayer
Bionorica
Johnson&Johnson
Kazorange
Philips
Siemens Healthineers
Kaz-Dia-Test LLP