Reports from Turkmenistan say President Niyazov has ordered the closure of all the hospitals in the country except those in the capital, Ashgabat.Yeah, that might be radical.
The order, announced by a government spokesman, is part of the president's radical health care policies.
President Niyazov apparently took the decision to close the hospitals at a meeting with local officials on Monday.For an idea as to the size of Turkmenistan (larger than California) see the CIA World Factbook and this map. Most poor rural Turkmens are not going to be able to get to Ashgabat for hospital care, especially since they will be seriously sick or injured while traveling (hence the need for hospital care).
"Why do we need such hospitals?" he said. "If people are ill, they can come to Ashgabat."
For the Turkmens, it means the end of a nationwide health service already on its knees.
There are few able doctors and little medicine in rural Turkmen hospitals, and last year President Niyazov sacked 15,000 medical workers, replacing them with army conscripts. However the local hospital was the only place for sick people to go - especially those without the funds to travel to Ashgabat for treatment.
And if closing the hospitals was not enough,
At the same time, the president has also ordered the closure of rural libraries, saying they are pointless because village Turkmens do not read.This man is a malignant nacissist, which puts him in a group with Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Kim Il Sung, and Kim Jong Il. We should be paying attention.
Criticism of the president is not allowed in Turkmenistan, but civil rights activists abroad say he has destroyed social services while spending millions of dollars of public money on grand projects, such as gold statues of the leader and a vast marble and gold mosque, one of the biggest in Asia.
Previous Niyazov Freak Watch
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