Aleksandr Khodzhayev appointed Belarus’ healthcare minister

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has appointed Aleksandr Khodzhayev as Belarus’ new healthcare minister.

Prior to this appointment, Aleksandr Khodzhayev headed the National Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, and before that worked in the Main Public Health Directorate of the Healthcare Ministry.

“I want to make it clear to people and to you that the new appointment does not mean the dismissal of Pinevich [Dmitry Pinevich, who until now led the Healthcare Ministry]. I just see him in a different role. He will work in a different position. He is a young, energetic person. Therefore, no one is going to let him go, figuratively speaking," the head of state said when appointing the new minister.

Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized that personnel rotation in the run-up to important election campaigns is an established practice in the country: “Naturally, the whole thing did not begin with you. There is personnel rotation going on in all ministries and government agencies. There is nothing new here. In the run-up to parliamentary and presidential elections we have always refreshed the composition of the government and local authorities, oblast executive committees, the Minsk City Council. We did that so that voters could see who we would work with as they would be casting their ballot, they should know whether they would be able to trust this team. I have been doing this for a long time. This time is no exception.”

“New people have been put in charge of ministries and government agencies, individual enterprises. And I’ll emphasize once again: such actions on my part (personnel decisions are a prerogative of the President) will continue in the near future. Right up to the presidential election. I don’t want any kind of wavering and some equilibristics in mass media,” Aleksandr Lukashenko added.

Speaking about the tasks facing Aleksandr Khodzhayev in his new role, the President noted that the work will not be easy, but a lot has already been done by the ministry itself and the commission that was created upon the instruction of the head of state.

“They have thoroughly analysed the performance of primary healthcare. You understand perfectly well that villages and small towns should not be left behind. This is the core of our state. There are people in these communities who need medical help. I’m not saying that urban communities will be neglected. But we have improved the situation there by and large, and healthcare is better in urban communities than in rural areas,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.

According to the head of state, it is already clear what needs to be done in this regard and certain things have already been done. “I think that this year we will solve the problem with first aid stations, district hospitals, community hospitals, nursing hospitals. And after that we need to take it up a notch,” he emphasized.