Public concern grows over oncology hospital closures in Tashkent 

“If you look at E-qaror, there are many closed decisions. Even when we investigate after submitting appeals, everything traces back to those decisions. This area must be designated as a specially protected zone,” Nasimov said.

How will the Republican Center accommodate transferred patients?

Kun.uz visited the Republican Center of Oncology and Radiology, where patients from the two branches are to be relocated, to assess the situation. Patients waiting in long queues said they have to arrive before 7:00 a.m. to see a doctor and are sometimes forced to leave without treatment due to a lack of space, even when they have official referrals.

Even before patients from the two city hospitals have been transferred, capacity is already insufficient, making it easy to imagine how dire the situation could become.

Doctor of medical sciences and oncologist Shermuhammad Umirov proposed preserving both hospital sites and converting the buildings into palliative care centers.

“As a scientist, I want to say that our people need not only ‘cities’ and apartment blocks, but also hospitals. We would ask that these hospital sites be turned into a national palliative care center. Such centers are needed not only for oncology patients, but also for those suffering from stroke, diabetes, chronic kidney failure, and other somatic diseases,” he said.

The editorial team contacted the National Committee for Ecology and Climate Change, one of the agencies responsible for the situation. The committee said an inventory of trees at the sites is under way.

“Inspectors from the Shaykhontohur district of the Tashkent City Department for Ecology and Climate Change have conducted an inventory of trees located on the grounds of the Republican Specialized Scientific and Practical Medical Center of Oncology and Radiology on Farobiy Street.

“Tree inventories are also being carried out at the Tashkent City and Tashkent Region Oncology Hospital sites by inspectors from the Almazar and Chilanzar districts,” the committee told Kun.uz.

It should be recalled that in June this year, the President of Uzbekistan sharply criticized the sale of green areas to developers for construction and ordered authorities to identify and restore green zones, sports grounds, and children’s playgrounds that had been repurposed for other uses.