Uzbekistan limits foreign travel for doctors

This isn't really a pharmacy story, but I thought it was a pretty interesting international medical story:

From the Washington Post:
Authorities in Uzbekistan have restricted the country's doctors from freely traveling abroad to international medical conferences, a think tank in the Central Asian nation said Friday.

Limiting Uzbek doctors' exposure to foreign expertise is likely to further hinder the authoritarian ex-Soviet nation's troubled health care system, which has struggled to deal with outbreaks of HIV and tuberculosis.

The Expert Working Group, an independent think-tank in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, said a recently approved government decree has created strict requirements for medical personnel wishing to leave the country, even if only for personal reasons.

Sukhrobjon Ismoilov of the think tank said the order to limit the movement of medical personnel was in flagrant violation of the country's constitution, which grants Uzbek citizens the right to freely leave the country.

Health workers traveling to medical conferences abroad must provide copies of their speeches to the Health Ministry in advance of departure. The group also said physicians will have to submit a report on their activities overseas to government officials within three days of their return, or risk punitive measures and a travel ban. ...more