Press release of the Health&Safety conference

The BeNeLux Chamber of Commerce, together with the Representative Office of the German Economy in Central Asia and the Union of the German Economy in the Republic of Kazakhstan, held a joint conference "Health & Safety" at the site of the 27th International Healthcare Exhibition - KIHE 2022 from May 18-20 in Almaty.

Taking into account the instructions of the Head of State on the modernization of the country's healthcare system, voiced in the Messages of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the people of Kazakhstan, professionals in the medical and pharmaceutical industries discussed topical issues facing the healthcare system in Kazakhstan.

The conference was opened by the Head of the Representation of the German Economy in Central Asia Hovsep Vaskanyan and the President of the Association of Legal Entities "Association" BeNeLux Chamber of Commerce" Denis van den Weich. The Ambassadors of Germany Monica Iversen, Belgium Henri Vantigem, the Netherlands Andre Carstens in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Chairman of the Board of SK-Pharmacia LLP Mr. Erkhat Iskaliyev, as well as the Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Belgium and Luxembourg Margulan Baimukhan and the Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Netherlands also delivered a welcoming speech Askar Zhumagaliev.

The conference consisted of two panel sessions: "Pharmacy" and "Medical Services and Equipment", where Ruslan Sultanov, Chairman of the Board of JSC "Institute for Economic Research" under the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, acted as a moderator.

During the first panel session, representatives of international companies such as Bayer, Janssen (Johnson & Johnson group), Bionorica, KazOrange, as well as the Kazakh company Kaz-Dia-Test, where they presented the features of the system health care of Kazakhstan, current realities and challenges for the future.

According to Lauma Waltere, General Director of Bayer KAZ, the healthcare system in Kazakhstan is constantly improving, with special attention paid to patients with oncology, diabetes and rare diseases. She describes that some progress has been made so far, but there are still several gaps related to Kazakh patients' access to innovative medicines. One of them is the process of including a new drug in the state program, which takes more than 5 years.

In addition, the speakers shared their visions for improving the healthcare system in Kazakhstan.

Thus, Adlet Nazarbayev, head of the Johnson&Johnson branch in the Republic of Kazakhstan, explained the importance of protecting patent rights and offered a number of recommendations on patent protection of rights and optimization of the process of access of innovative medicines to the market.

Sholpanai Tashtenova, Marketing Director of Bionorica, explained the concept of phytoneering and emphasized the role of Bionorica as the market leader in herbal medicines in Kazakhstan in 2021.

In turn, Vitalia Nesterova, a representative of Kaz-Dia-Test LLP, noted their contribution to the development of import substitution of medical diagnostic tests. The goal of their new project is to achieve market leadership in the Republic of Kazakhstan in terms of product range and volume through cooperation with world leaders in the production 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 drugs in bulk to Kazakhstan, and is now looking for a strategic partner to package these drugs in Kazakhstan.

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

Artem Padeisky, Director of Healthcare Business Development in Central Asia, Transcaucasia and Mongolia, Philips Health System, also emphasized that technologies in the field of medical equipment do not stand still and showed how Philips solves complex tasks for modernizing healthcare.

Following the results of the Conference, an agreement was reached to continue the dialogue and use the platform of the Chamber of BeNeLux and the Representative Office of the German Economy in Central Asia to develop a proposal for the improvement and further development of the healthcare system of the Republic of Kazakhstan.