Minister of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan Visits National Scientific Center of Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery

During a working visit to Almaty, Minister of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan Akmaral Alnazarova visited the National Scientific Center of Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery, where she familiarized herself with the medical organization's work.

The delegation, led by the Minister, included: Marat Pashimov, Head of the Almaty City Public Health Department; Marat Shoranov, Rector of the S.D. Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University; and Aizhan Balabatyrova, Chairman of the Management Board of "KAZ Minerals Management."

The history of the country's oldest scientific center in the field of pediatrics spans more than 90 years. The National Scientific Center of Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery is one of the country's leading multidisciplinary clinics. Every year, more than 7,000 children from various regions of the country receive treatment at NCPPS. The Center provides specialized and highly specialized medical care, in both 24-hour and day-hospital settings, to children from all regions of Kazakhstan aged from 1 day to 18 years.

Today, the clinic has a capacity of 285 beds, consisting of three units (pediatric, surgical, and the center for pediatric oncology and hematology). The Center also carries out organizational-methodological, educational, and scientific activities. It serves as the main coordinator of pediatric services in Kazakhstan.

Abai Kusainov, Chairman of the NCPPS Management Board, gave a presentation on the clinic's activities, discussing its achievements and development plans.

The National Scientific Center of Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery provides 16 types of high-tech medical services. The Center continues to introduce innovative technologies for treating children with surgical conditions. In 2025, for example, the following procedures were introduced: laparoscopic Heller cardiomyotomy with Toupet fundoplication for esophageal achalasia, correction of double aortic arch (vascular ring division), resection of left ventricular outflow tract stenosis, aortic valve replacement for congenital VSD, open contact laser lithotripsy, and laser treatment of urethral stricture.

In 2025, 7,360 children from all regions of Kazakhstan were treated, including more than 2,300 newborns. Over the year, more than 2,300 surgical procedures were performed on children, including 418 operations for children with various tumor formations, 401 operations for children with heart and vascular diseases, and nearly 700 operations for urological conditions. More than 150 open-heart surgeries are performed annually, including on infants from their first days of life. Surgical care for newborns is provided in the Department of Neonatology and Newborn Surgery. The department uses various effective perinatal technologies for newborns with extremely low and very low birth weight, and performs transpupillary laser coagulation of the retina for premature infants with retinopathy.

The first stop on the visit was the Department of Angiography and Radiology Diagnostics (CT, MRI). The NCPPS Radiology Department performs more than 45,000 examinations for children annually, including 5,000 CT scans and 3,500 MRI scans.

The angiography operating room hosts modern procedures used to treat vascular malformations and vascular developmental anomalies, based on minimally invasive intervention principles, including unique surgical procedures such as SIACT.

The delegation then toured the transfusiology department, the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) department, and the Center's laboratory. The clinical diagnostic laboratory includes laboratories for cytology, immunology, histology and immunohistochemistry, a cytogenetics laboratory, a hemostasis laboratory, and a bacteriology laboratory. The Center's laboratory service provides comprehensive diagnostics and monitoring of patients' conditions and also carries out a substantial number of tests for other medical organizations across the country.

During a visit to the hematopoietic stem cell apheresis room, the Minister observed the process of collecting, preparing, and transplanting stem cells. It was noted that the Center is actively developing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation as a high-tech treatment method. In 2025, 58 transplants were performed, including 18 autologous, 8 haploidentical, and 31 allogeneic transplants, 12 of which were from unrelated donors.

The Minister also observed the work of clinical departments such as the Cardiac Surgery Department and the Intensive Care Unit for cardiac surgery patients, the Oncology and Hematology Department, and others.

The NCPPS Cardiac Surgery Department has been operating since 2012. Each year, the department performs surgery on 600 children with congenital heart defects and congenital peripheral vascular anomalies (arteriovenous, venous, lymphaticovenous, and lymphatic malformations). Around 130–140 operations are performed annually under cardiopulmonary bypass (open-heart surgery), along with more than 300 operations for vascular anomalies. The cardiac surgery and anesthesiology intensive care units provide highly specialized care for children with congenital heart defects and congenital angiodysplasias.

The meeting covered a range of issues, including the challenges and prospects for the development of pediatric services in Kazakhstan as a whole and at the National Scientific Center of Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery in particular, the clinic's material and technical capacity, scientific matters, issues facing medical personnel, and other topics. Discussions also touched on the Center's role in providing organizational and methodological support to the region, as well as issues of infant mortality and the diagnosis and treatment of congenital developmental defects.

At the conclusion of the visit, Minister of Healthcare Akmaral Alnazarova thanked all the doctors working at the national center — where more than 7,000 children from across the country receive treatment each year — for their dedicated work, and wished them continued success.

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