Kazakhstan to Strengthen Laws Protecting Medical Personnel

Kazakhstan is taking a critical step towards safeguarding its healthcare workers by introducing legislation that increases penalties for violence against medical personnel. The move follows President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's directive to strengthen measures to protect medical staff, who have faced a growing number of violent incidents. The Health Ministry is drafting a bill that would classify attacks on healthcare workers in the same legal category as assaults on police officers, mirroring sentences and penalties. The proposed measures also include equipping medical staff with smart video badges, installing comprehensive security systems, and deploying permanent police posts in emergency departments.

Key Takeaways:

• Kazakhstan is preparing legislative amendments to increase criminal liability for violence against medical personnel, equating such offenses with attacks on law enforcement officers.
• The initiative follows a directive from President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who urged the government to take stronger action to protect medical staff amid a growing number of violent incidents.
• Proposed measures include equipping staff with smart video badges, installing comprehensive security systems in hospitals, and deploying permanent police posts in emergency departments.
• The new bill would classify attacks on healthcare workers in the same legal category as assaults on police officers, mirroring sentences and penalties.
• Threats to medical workers could result in up to two years' restriction of liberty, while violence against a single worker may carry a sentence of 1 to 10 years.
• Attacks involving multiple perpetrators or targeting groups of workers could lead to up to 15 years of imprisonment.
• The bill would be submitted to the Mazhilis, the lower house of parliament, in September.
• Over 170 cases of violence against doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other healthcare staff have been recorded in Kazakhstan since 2019.

Statistics:

• Up to 10 years of imprisonment for attacking a law enforcement officer.
• Up to 10 to 15 years' imprisonment for attempted murder.
• Up to 170 cases of violence against healthcare staff recorded in Kazakhstan since 2019.
• Up to 1 to 10 years' imprisonment for violence against a single medical worker.
• Up to 15 years' imprisonment for attacks involving multiple perpetrators or targeting groups of workers.
• Two recent assaults on medical personnel in Kazakhstan resulted in hospitalizations.

Sources:

• Presidential Administration of the Republic of Kazakhstan
• The Times of Central Asia
• The Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan
• The Government of Kazakhstan