IntroductionAt the crossroads betwe

Introduction
At the crossroads between Europe and Asia, the countries of central Asia have
been occupied over the last decade with the enormous challenges of establishing
and stabilizing their states and societies and with claiming their place in
the international community. Although the term ‘central Asia’ covers a wide
region, we use it here to refer to the five countries of former Soviet central
Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (Figure
1.1). These central Asian republics gained their unexpected independence
in 1991, upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Since these dramatic
events, these five republics have received more attention from the international
community, especially given the political and economic significance of
the region.
Because these health care systems are not well known outside their own
countries, this book aims to describe and analyse them for a wider audience,
both within and without the region. We do so for several reasons. First, policymakers
within central Asia face enormous challenges in bringing about health
sector reform in an environment with extremely adverse macroeconomics and
major internal economic and political changes. To assist them in reorganizing
their health systems, these policy-makers need better information about their
own and other health care systems (as do policy-makers in developed countries).
Second, the countries in the region are interested in the experiences of
other countries, so that they can learn about what works and why, and which
initiatives might transfer successfully across borders. Finally, those working for
international organizations need to share more information and analysis on
how and why health care systems work in these countries and on the impact
of the many changes underway.