President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov met Leo Bokeria, director of Russia’s Bakulev Research Center for Cardiovascular Surgery, academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, at the Oqsaroy on 26 November.

Welcoming the guest, the head of our state noted that Leo Bokeria is one of those who always enjoy great respect in Uzbekistan, especially by people who discovered the delight of life anew owing to the outstanding surgeon’s enduring talent and experience.

Leo Bokeria has been celebrated not merely as a notable doctor of our times, but also as the one making immense input into fostering cooperation between medical institutions of Uzbekistan and Russia. Around a hundred specialists from our country have undergone education and internship since 1994 at the research center headed by him.

Leo Bokeria traveled to Uzbekistan in 2004 for charity purposes and conducted complicated surgeries on children with congenital heart diseases at the Academician Vahidov National Specialized Surgery Center. A cooperation agreement was signed at the time between Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Healthcare and Bakulev Research Center for Cardiovascular Surgery. The act envisions joint academic conferences, surgeries, retraining cadres. Uzbek medical institutions and the Bokeria-led scientific center have bolstered bilateral bonds ever since. In particular, numerous scholars from Uzbekistan have pursued doctoral and post-doctoral research in close interaction with colleagues from that establishment.

During the meeting at the Oqsaroy, Leo Bokeria conveyed gratitude to the head of our state for a warm welcome and stressed Uzbekistan’s impressive accomplishments during independence years in reforming the healthcare system, in diagnostics and treatment of cardiovascular diseases in particular.

The guest underscored that the authoritative symposium in Tashkent with world-renowned academics and specialists from about forty countries and various international institutions is indicative of extensive acknowledgement of Uzbekistan’s successes in medical sphere, primarily in maternity and child healthcare.

The conversation included also exchange of views on issues pertinent to enhancing the practical cooperation between cardio-surgery specialists of Uzbekistan and Russia, UzA informs.