Protestors demand resignation of Health Minister in Bishkek

A rally for the resignation of the Health Minister of Kyrgyzstan Talantbek Batyraliev is held in front of the Health Ministry building in Bishkek.

According to one participant, a member of the Board of the Kyrgyz Nephrology Association Temir Sultanaliev, representatives of the civil society are outraged by the situation in the health care system.

Talantbek Batyraliev has been taking this position for three years, but no positive changes happened during this time.

Temir Sultanaliev

«We demand resignation of the Minister, his deputies, as well as the dismissal of nursing staff who work in the Commission. In particular, it concerns transfer of patients to budget-funded hemodialysis. These commissions are engaged in corruption," he said.

«We also demand to initiate a criminal case against former Health Minister Dinara Saginbaeva. There were questions on tenders during her work. According to my calculations, she received a kickback of 20 percent of the total amount allocated for the purchase. In particular, 70 million soms was allocated in 2013 for hemodialysis. According to my estimates, the patients lacked 12.5 million soms, or 19 percent of the amount," he added.

More than 20 protesters gathered in front of the building, they are holding posters with slogans «Dear President, whom have you entrusted health of the people?», «Kyrgyzstanis, how long can we tolerate arbitrariness of Farid Niyazov and Talantbek Batyraliev» and others.

The Minister of Health himself was called to the government. Representatives of the Ministry of Health invited the protesters in the meeting room, but they refused.