Kyrgyz Republic

Kyrgyzstan suffered severely after the breakup of the Soviet Union, as 98% of its export revenues came from inside the Soviet bloc. With support from external donors, the country embarked on a series of ambitious health reforms and, although much has been achieved, there are still problems with the system. According to the European Observatory on Health Care, chief among these is that 'patterns of government expenditure have not responded to population needs' - a typical problem with state sector provision. Also, mortality from infectious diseases, especially tuberculosis, has risen because of a shortage of drugs. These shortages are compounded by an overly bureaucratic customs apparatus, which can delay imports by up to 75 days.