Minister of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan Akmaral Alnazarova, at a Government session, spoke about the staffing of schools with medical units ahead of the new school year, measures to protect students’ health, and the introduction of the new nutrition standard.

The Minister noted that more than 65% of the country’s child population study in schools. All schools, with the exception of small schools, are equipped with medical units. The operation of each school’s medical unit is coordinated by a primary health care (PHC) organization serving the given area.

“In recent years, the equipment level of medical units has increased by 15.3%, and the staffing with school nurses has risen by 9.2%,” Akmaral Alnazarova stated.

With the support of the WHO, the country is implementing a project to establish Health-Promoting Schools (HPS). Over the past year, their number has increased by 3.7%. Preventive examinations of schoolchildren are conducted annually by PHC specialists. In the first half of 2025, 52% of children from the annual plan have been examined, and the remaining students will be examined by the end of the year.

This year, as part of a scientific and technical program, research is being conducted to strengthen students’ health, aimed at disease prevention, providing assistance, and rehabilitation, taking into account best international practices. In addition, on the Ministry’s initiative, the “Healthy Summer – 2025” program is being implemented. Within the framework of the program, about 200,000 children were examined. During the summer, more than 200,000 children were provided with wellness services in 206 camps. Since the beginning of the year, the “Bolashakka Sau Tispen” (“To the Future with Healthy Teeth”) project has been launched in the country. To date, out of the planned 145 dental disease prevention rooms, 47 are ready to open.

“In this regard, local executive bodies must accelerate the work to open dental offices, allocate funding, purchase medical equipment, and issue the necessary permits. It is also necessary to continue work on introducing health-saving technologies (HPS), training school nurses, equipping medical units, and opening camps to ensure health improvement opportunities for children from socially disadvantaged families,” Akmaral Alnazarova emphasized.

The Minister informed that this year inspections were carried out in 312 schools and school canteens. Following the inspections, 246 orders were issued. Compared to the previous academic year, the number of schools without sanitary-epidemiological conclusions has decreased 1.4 times. Annual monitoring of school readiness for the new school year is carried out, with about 2,000 schools covered this year.

Regarding the implementation of the National Project “Comfortable School,” 95 applications for sanitary-epidemiological conclusions have been reviewed, and 88 certificates of compliance have been issued to date. In order to improve safety levels at facilities for children, the Ministry has developed new approaches to strengthening state control over child-related facilities funded from the state budget.

The main innovations include:

• simultaneous inspection of all entities providing services in schools;

• introduction of the principle of “surprise” inspections – cancellation of prior notification;

• introduction of a new form of control – on-site monitoring visits.

The amendments are under consideration by Members of Parliament. It was noted that from September 1, 2025, a new nutrition standard will be introduced in educational institutions. It was developed taking into account modern international requirements for healthy eating and provides for reducing sugar by up to 3.6 times, salt by up to five times, as well as increasing the consumption of vegetables, fruits, and dairy products. The standard also includes requirements for organizing meals in small schools, school buffets, and for children with special dietary needs. For the first time, the concept of the “Uneaten Food Index” has been introduced. This is necessary to determine the level of children’s satisfaction with meals and, accordingly, to assess the effectiveness of the school meals system.

“As part of the implementation of the nutrition standard, a multi-option sample menu for school meals has been developed, and for the first time, a menu has been created for small schools where there are no facilities for preparing hot meals,” Akmaral Alnazarova concluded.

#Education #Government session #Healthcare

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