Tashkent’s Main Health Department has reported that almost 2,700 residents were newly registered with mental disorders in the first nine months of 2026, an increase of 269 cases compared with the same period a year earlier, according to a report presented to the Tashkent City Kengash of People’s Deputies. The figures cover new dispensary registrations across the capital and have drawn attention from city deputies because children account for a large share of the new patients, making access to mental health services a pressing public health issue for Uzbekistan’s capital.
Key Takeaways: Tashkent recorded about 2,700 first-time mental health registrations in January–September 2026, up from 2,400 in the same period of 2025, an increase of roughly 11.2%. Among the new patients were 1,200 adults, 143 adolescents and 1,300 children, meaning minors accounted for almost half of new cases. The city now has 23,400 people on dispensary records, including 6,200 who received inpatient treatment.
The report was reviewed during the Kengash’s consideration of the capital’s third-quarter health care performance. Deputies focused not only on the overall rise in first-time diagnoses but also on the age structure of the new cases, which suggests that demand for child and adolescent mental health support is growing. In Uzbekistan, mental health has increasingly been discussed as part of broader social protection and public health policy, with official bodies emphasizing early detection, outpatient care and improved access to qualified specialists. The latest Tashkent data add a city-level dimension to that debate, showing how caseloads are distributed between adults and minors and how many patients require hospital treatment.
According to the figures, the increase over 2025 was about 11.2%, with 2,400 new registrations in the first nine months of last year versus almost 2,700 this year. The breakdown shows 1,200 adults, 143 adolescents and 1,300 children among those newly taken under observation. Separately, 23,400 people are currently on dispensary records in Tashkent, and 6,200 of them have undergone inpatient care. The report did not provide a detailed explanation for the rise, and specialists caution that registration statistics can reflect both changes in actual morbidity and improvements in detection and help-seeking behavior.
The Tashkent Main Health Department has been instructed to improve the quality of mental health services and make medical care more accessible to residents. Deputies are expected to monitor whether the instructed measures lead to better prevention, timely diagnosis and support for families. The earlier expansion of Gamkhurlik centers, which are intended to serve children with disabilities and adults with first- or second-group mental disorders who need care, is also relevant to the broader effort. Future reporting from the city is likely to be watched for whether new registrations stabilize, whether child and adolescent services expand, and whether inpatient and outpatient capacity keeps pace with demand.
Source: podrobno.uz