Healthcare in Turkmenistan

In the post-Soviet era, reduced funding has put the health system in poor condition.

Doctors and pharmacists were required to study the works of Avicenna and tested on their knowledge of Saparmyrat Niyazov's spiritual writings, the Ruhnama.

[3] He initiated an annual Month of Health and Sports, which involved people throughout the country taking long walks in parks and compulsory physical fitness classes at workplaces.

The rural hospitals reopened, but they had severe shortages of the most basic medical equipment and hygiene standards were poor.

[4] There is an acute shortage of clinical staff and political pressure, for example discouraging from diagnoses of HIV .