Yelzhan Amantaiuly Birtanov (, ''Eljan Amantaiūly Bırtanov''; born 18 October 1971) is a Kazakh politician who served as the Minister of Healthcare from 2017 to 2020.

Early life and education

Birtanov was born in the city of Dzhambul (present-day

Taraz Taraz ( ; also historically known as Talas) is a city and the administrative center of Jambyl Region in Kazakhstan, located on the Talas (river), Talas (Taraz) River in the south of the country near the border with Kyrgyzstan. It had a populatio ...

) in the

Kazakh SSR The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Kazakhstan, the Kazakh SSR, KSSR, or simply Kazakhstan, was one of the transcontinental constituent republics of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Located in northern Centr ...

to a family of doctors. In 1994, he graduated from the

Kazakh National Medical University Kazakh National Medical University is a university in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It was established in 1931, and the first rector was S.D. Asfendiyarov. In 2001, the government classified it as a "national" university. The university has a student po ...

Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...

. Upon graduating, Birtanov left for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to study intensive care and toxicology at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

. In 1998, he received a Ph.D in Medical Sciences. In 2001, Birtanov graduated from the Russian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education under the program "Management in Healthcare" in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He also mastered the management of hospital affairs at the

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine; ) is Europe's List of hospitals by capacity, largest university hospital, affiliated with Humboldt University of Berlin, Humboldt University and the Free ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 2006. Birtanov earned a doctorate in medical sciences in 2010 and graduated from the

Fuqua School of Business The Duke University Fuqua School of Business (pronounced ) is the business school of Duke University, a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina. It enrolls more than 1,300 students in degree-seeking programs. Du ...

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

, receiving master's degree in business administration in 2013.

Career

Birtanov's early career began while he studying as a nurse in the Department of Psychoneurology of the Central Clinical Hospital. He also worked in the intensive care and the Department of Toxicology BSMP in

. Then he worked as a toxicologist, resuscitator, and led the BSMP Information and Advisory Toxicology Center from 1994 to 1998. In 1998, Birtanov became the head of the Almaty City Toxicology Center until 1999, when he became the head of the Republican Center of Toxicology until 2005. From 2000 to 2008, where he taught a course of clinical toxicology. He was also the director of the RSE "Institute for Health Development of the Ministry of Health". In 2005, he was appointed director of the RSE "Healthcare Development Institute" under the Ministry of Healthcare. From March to August 2008, Birtanov was an adviser to the Prime Minister

Karim Massimov Karim Qajymqanuly Massimov (, , ; born 15 June 1965)Kazakhstan moves to ...

. From 2008 to 2010, he was the Vice Minister of Healthcare. In April 2010, Birtanov became as the Chairman of the Board of JSC "National Medical Holding". In December 2012, Birtanov was appointed as an advisor to the Chairman of the Executive Council of

Nazarbayev University Nazarbayev University (NU) is an autonomous research university in Astana, Kazakhstan. It was founded by the former President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in June 2010. It is an English-medium institution, with an international faculty an ...

. In November 2015, he became the Vice Minister of Healthcare and Social Development. On 25 January 2017, Birtanov was appointed as the Minister of Healthcare. On 14 June 2020, it was reported that Birtanov was tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. He resigned from the position as the minister on 25 June, stating that the complications from the virus had prevented him from leading an effort to combat the pandemic. On 3 July 2020, it was announced that Birtanov had recovered from the coronavirus. On November 3, 2020, the Financial Monitoring Committee of the Ministry of Finance announced the institution of a criminal case against the former Minister of Health Birtanov E.A. on the fact of embezzlement of budget funds on a particularly large scale. On October 28, 2022, the Court found Yelzhan Birtanov innocent of committing a criminal offense under Part 3 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the episode "use of a sanitary aircraft" and acquitted him for the absence of corpus delicti in his actions. On the second episode, he was found guilty of committing a criminal offense under paragraph 3 of part 4 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and imposed a penalty under this article in the form of restriction of liberty for a period of five years. On February 10, 2023, the court of the Saryarkinsky district of Astana considered an appeal against the verdict against Yelzhan Birtanov and left it unchanged. On March 14, 2023, he was appointed advisor to the chairman of the Republican Branch Trade Union of Medical Workers QazMed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birtanov, Eljan 1971 births Living people People from Taraz Government ministers of Kazakhstan University of Arizona alumni Duke University School of Medicine alumni