The Ministry of Trade and Integration held its second public hearing to consider the petition “Turn Back Time”.
According to the ministry's press service, during the discussion experts assessed the impact on the health of Kazakh citizens, and also presented statistics on medical visits and morbidity rates following the transition to a single time zone.
The head of the Science and Technology Park of Asfendiyarov KazNMU, Ildar Fakhradiyev, claims that research has not found any negative consequences from using the optimal time. According to him, on the contrary, they supposedly confirm its positive effect on the health and well-being of the population.
“Our meta-analysis confirms that using the correct time does not harm health, which justifies the choice of this time standard. Adaptation to the new time requires time and an individual approach, but happens faster if the time corresponds to astronomical and geographical laws,” noted Fakhradiyev.
As stated by the director of the Department of Science and Human Resources of the Ministry of Health, Almagul Kauysheva, despite the fact that not much time has passed since the clock change, improvements are supposedly noticeable in terms of reduced morbidity rates.
“According to data from June this year, the number of visits to primary healthcare organisations decreased, albeit slightly, by 0.1%. Over the 6 months of this year, there has been a decrease in the incidence of diseases of the circulatory system by 13.7%, and mental and behavioural disorders by 11.3%, with no negative impact on the situation with oncological diseases. By region, in the East Kazakhstan Region, there is a decrease in the incidence of circulatory system diseases by 15.9%, oncology by 1.5%, and mental disorders by 12.2%. In Almaty city, there is a decrease in the incidence of circulatory system diseases by 55.7%, oncology by 2.3%, and mental disorders by 15.8%,” she noted.
Furthermore, experts in the fields of medicine and chronobiology, as well as representatives of interested state bodies, spoke during the meeting.
It is reported that all data will be transferred to the author of the petition, and after a detailed study, they will be discussed at the next meeting of the working group.
For context, in the autumn of 2023, during a plenary session, Mazhilis deputy Erkin Abil proposed switching Kazakhstan to a single time zone. On 19 January, changes were made to the government decree, according to which, from 1 March, the single time zone UTC +5 came into effect across the country.
Later, some Kazakh citizens began to advocate for the return of the previous time, and the petition to cancel the single time zone in Kazakhstan garnered 50,000 signatures.
In addition, a number of experts concluded that the introduction of a single time zone in Kazakhstan negatively impacts the mental and physical state of people. The president of the Kazakhstan Association of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, psychologist Yevgeniy Yan, told the FBRK editorial team this.
In turn, the initiator of the single time zone, deputy Erkin Abil, stated in an interview with journalists that he does not consider the arguments for turning back time to be substantial. In his opinion, it is still too early to draw conclusions. Meanwhile, the deputy admitted that he could have been wrong in his initiative.