“This is a tragedy” – Oncologist speaks about hospitals being sold

The government of Uzbekistan issued a closed decision on the sale of three oncology hospitals in Tashkent. The Republican Oncology Center, its branches in Tashkent city and Tashkent region will be merged into a single oncology complex under construction.

In an interview with Kun.uz, oncologist Shermuhammad Umirov said that oncological patients in Uzbekistan are waiting in line for months, and in many cases, the disease is reaching the final stage.

“Merging hospitals is wrong”

- Today in Uzbekistan, we have more than 100,000 oncological patients, and more than 30% of them are in serious condition. About 10,000 of 100,000 patients are children under the age of 18.

Reducing the number of oncological hospitals or reducing the number of beds in such a difficult situation is a tragedy.

Building a new hospital is a good thing, but merging the Republican Oncology Center with Tashkent city and region is wrong.

Children’s oncology department should also be separate. Today, there is no children’s department in Tashkent regional oncology. We are really in a funny situation in this regard. It is a pity that there is no pediatric oncology department for treating these children in the region where 36% of the 4-million population are children under the age of 18. Children with cancer in this region come to the capital. We give them a warrant to Tashkent city oncology for treatment, there is a long queue – but there is no vacant seat. As a result, the disease, which should be detected and treated in the first or second stage, moves to severe stages.

For example, one district of the region has a thousand oncological patients, and about 500 of them are children. Is it a small number? At least 40 of these 500 sick children are dying.

Around the world, 1 person dies from cancer every second. In Uzbekistan, one oncological patient dies approximately every 10 minutes. It can be someone’s sister, brother, father, mother or child. No one can deny that.

“The number of seats is decreasing. And cancer does not wait”

- Centralization of oncology hospitals is impractical. Today, go to the reception department of these hospitals, you will see an endless queue. People are waiting for months to receive radiation therapy. It is necessary to wait a month for inpatient treatment. Because there are few seats in the ward. Another reason is that no official is willing to increase the number of seats in this matter.

Oncology centers of Tashkent city and Tashkent region are designed for 15-20 million inhabitants. Now our population is approaching 40 million. Now we need to build treatment facilities based on this.

The newly built oncology center is designed for 750 seats. There are about 850 places where patients are treated in the oncology departments of Tashkent city, Tashkent region and the republic. In the new center, there are 750. Instead of increasing the number of seats, it is decreasing to 100 seats. This causes patients to wait in line for months. If this disease is not treated today, another tumor will grow next to it tomorrow. It gets worse every day. Therefore, we should organize the work based on its essence. The Republican oncology center should be separate, it should not include city and regional hospitals.

“Let them build a hospital on a part of 4 hectares”

- If the current Tashkent city oncology hospital is located on an area of 4 hectares, then let them build two 8-story buildings per hectare instead. Then the people of the city will be satisfied with both the healthcare system and the state. The President is trying to please the people. Why don’t officials think about it?

I recently assisted in the treatment of a 35-year-old breast cancer patient in my mahalla. As he was at the final stage, he was allowed to go home. Water accumulated in his stomach and lungs. As I visited her frequently, her little daughter got to know me well. The woman did not live long, she died. After 2 months, the little girl saw me on the street and asked: “When will you return my mom?” she asked. Because when her mother died, the people in her house said: “Your doctor uncle has taken your mom away for treatment”. The worst part is that this kind of thing happens almost every day.