On January 20, 2023, a briefing was held at the National Research Cardiac Surgery Center regarding the information about the hospitalization of First President Nursultan Nazarbayev, DKNews.kz reports.
Yuriy Pya, Director of Surgery reported on the results of the procedure that Nursultan Nazarbayev underwent at the Center and answered all questions from media representatives.
“By virtue of my status as the head of the University Medical Center, which I have been for the last 2 years, and by virtue of my status as the chief cardiac surgeon of the republic, I am also a consultant – for all citizens, including leaders of our country. And for a long time, I have been – if necessary – a consultant to Nursultan Nazarbayev. I am invited to consult, if necessary. And this procedure, which was carried out today, was planned last year” Yuriy Pya
Yuriy Pya clarified that information about the diagnosis, treatment method, and details of the condition is confidential due to medical privacy, which any patient has the right to preserve. In addition, the motto of the National Research Cardiac Surgery Center is “Patient first”, which means that comfort and patient rights are always a priority.
Nevertheless, Yuriy Pya clarified some details, in particular, explaining that it was not about surgery, but only about a therapeutic and diagnostic procedure.
“This is not an operation, to make it clear. This is a procedure. But in Russian-speaking society, the concept of “operations” and the concept of “procedures” are sometimes confused. This was a therapeutic and diagnostic procedure. As a surgeon, I can say that surgery is when the chest is opened. And the procedure is performed via some minimal access, this is no longer included in the category of operations according to international nomenclature. This is an interventional treatment, and all together – I mean, when we started the process and when we finished – it took about 2.5 hours” Yuriy Pya
Yuriy Pya also clarified that the treatment of Nursultan Nazarbayev in the clinic is fully covered by the guaranteed volume of free medical care, as for any citizen of Kazakhstan who receives treatment under a quota.
«Firstly, today he is our patient and, as a citizen of Kazakhstan, he has the right to get medical care within the framework of mandatory social medical insurance. All procedures are covered by the state budget, and none of the Kazakhstani citizens pay for these procedures. … I just want to say that it is available to any citizen of Kazakhstan. That is, this procedure is performed daily and several times a day. Yes, it is expensive in terms of finances, but, thank God, we have the opportunity to provide this type of care to the citizens of Kazakhstan» Yuriy Pya
The state of health of the first president after the procedure, according to Yuriy Pya, is good. Nursultan Nazarbayev may be discharged from the clinic soon.
«The discharge will be scheduled according to his condition. If his condition allows him to go home, we will discharge him as soon as possible. I hope it happens today or tomorrow. This decision will be made collectively, together with the entire team that participated in this procedure» Yuriy Pya
The director of Surgery of the Cardiac Surgery Center confirmed that trust in the clinic is an indicator of the level of medicine.
«I feel great pride for the entire team, for the entire team that works in this clinic. For all of us, this is the motivation that we are on the right track, that we have reached the level where we are trusted with people’s lives» Yuriy Pya
