Table 2.

Overview of public primary care provision in the four countries.

	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Tajikistan	Uzbekistan
Rural areas
1st level	•Feldsher-midwifery posts (FAPs) – embedded in SVAs (below); staffed with feldshers (physician assistants) and/or midwives •Medical posts -based on FAPs but larger	•Family group practices (FGPs) – former polyclinics with specialists retrained as family doctors; usually embedded in FMCs or General Practice Centres (below) •Feldsher-Obstetric Points (FAPs) - embedded in FGPs (above) and run by a feldsher/nurse, with regular visits from a family doctor	•Health houses – embedded in the rural health centres (below); staffed by a nurse, midwife or feldsher •Health posts - attached to schools, public enterprises, and other institutions	•Rural physician posts - staffed with GPs •A limited number of feldsher-midwifery posts (FAPs) still exists in some remote areas
2nd level	•Rural physician ambulatories (SVAs), usually staffed with an internist, a paediatrician, a nurse and a midwife •District (rayon) polyclinic – associated with district hospital and staffed with primary care and narrow-profile physicians	•Family Medicine Centres (FMCs) – staffed with FGP doctors and narrow-profile specialists •General practice centres – primary care facilities with beds	•Rural health centres - managed by rayon health centres; staffed with physicians (usually family medicine doctors)	•District multi-specialty polyclinics; staffed with GPs and specialists
Urban areas
1st level	•Urban multi-specialty polyclinics, either free standing or associated with a hospital •Specialized polyclinics – serving specific population groups, e.g., adults, children, reproductive services	•Family group practices (FGPs) embedded into Family Medicine Centres (FMCs) – staffed with FGP doctors and narrow-profile specialists	•Rayon and city multi-speciality health centres - former polyclinics; either free standing or associated with a hospital •Specialized dispensaries - that address specific issues such as tuberculosis, oncology, and endocrinology •Health posts - attached to schools, public enterprises, and other institutions	•Family multi-speciality polyclinics – staffed with GPs and specialists
2nd level				• District/city multi-specialty polyclinics

Source: Authors’ compilation