Starting from September 2025, new rules for determining disability status will come into effect in Kyrgyzstan, the Ministry of Justice announced.
According to the ministry, this initiative was developed jointly with the National Institute of Strategic Initiatives and is part of the government’s broader policy to reduce bureaucracy in public services. The changes address one of the most sensitive issues for citizens — the duration of disability status.
Currently, people with disabilities must regularly undergo medical and social assessments to confirm their status. Even citizens with severe and irreversible health conditions are granted Group I disability only for a limited period. This has led to bureaucracy, stress, and an unnecessary burden on both citizens and medical commissions. The new Cabinet of Ministers resolution is aimed at solving this problem.
Under the new rules:
Group I disability will be assigned for seven years;
Group II disability — for four years;
Group III disability — for two years.
Citizens or their representatives will also have the right to initiate early termination of disability status if their health improves.
According to the Ministry of Labor, Social Security and Migration, as of early 2024, Kyrgyzstan had more than 217,000 persons with disabilities. Among the most common diagnoses for Group I disability are severe strokes with total loss of motor function, advanced cerebral palsy, late-stage multiple sclerosis, amputations of two or more limbs, total blindness and deafness, as well as conditions requiring permanent dialysis. These illnesses are considered irreversible, and the previous practice of annual confirmation became an unnecessary ordeal for citizens.
For medical commissions, the reform is also a step forward: resources will be freed up and redirected toward cases where expert evaluation is truly required. This approach has long been part of social policy in countries such as Germany, Canada, Sweden, Kazakhstan, and Russia, where disability resulting from irreversible conditions is granted for long periods or indefinitely. Now, this modern principle has been adopted in Kyrgyzstan as well.
Importantly, the new rules do not require additional budgetary spending and has already passed public consultation without objections.
