Uzbekistan will expand private sector participation in healthcare from January 2027, allowing state medical institutions to outsource medical and auxiliary services to private companies under a decree signed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on November 4.
Outsourcing contracts will generally run for up to five years, with exceptional agreements extending to 10 years depending on investment requirements and the time needed to recover costs. Existing contracts due to expire before the new framework takes effect may be extended until the end of 2027.
Private providers could take over services including hemodialysis, laboratory diagnostics, medical equipment maintenance and sterilization, rehabilitation and physiotherapy. Companies will finance equipment purchases, as well as its operation and replacement, while state hospitals will pay for the services they require.
The decree also calls for foreign professional management companies or teams to be appointed to at least five major medical institutions by 2030. Managers will generally be selected through open competitive tenders and assessed annually against contractual performance indicators.
New hospitals requiring substantial capital investment will generally be developed through public-private partnerships, while services that require less investment and already have sufficient private-sector competition will be procured through outsourcing.
The Ministry of Health must publish an annual list of priority healthcare investment projects, including PPP initiatives, by November 1, starting in 2027.
An electronic platform, Medical Outsourcing, is scheduled to be deployed by April 1, 2027, to monitor contracts, service quality, performance indicators and payments.
The Prosecutor General's Office, together with the Ministry of Health and the State Assets Management Agency, must also review existing leases of state medical property by April 1, 2027, identifying agreements that violate the law or result in damage to state interests.
The decree follows Mirziyoyev's October 27 announcement of plans to expand private-sector involvement in healthcare. The number of private clinics reportedly increased from 3,500 in 2017 to more than 9,000 in 2026. The private sector accounts for 90% of dentistry, 70% of diagnostics and 60% of otolaryngology, urology and ophthalmology services.
Stay up to date with all the latest news:
