Today, on January 16, 2026, a ceremonial event was held at the Republican Specialized Scientific and Practical Medical Center of Surgery named after Academician V. Vakhidov to officially launch a robot-assisted surgical system—the first of its kind within the state healthcare system of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The event was attended by the First Deputy Minister of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Alisher Shukrullaevich Boboev, leading specialists of the Surgical Center, as well as foreign experts from the People’s Republic of China. Surgical departments of regional multidisciplinary hospitals across the country joined the ceremony via videoconference.

Following the official part of the event, in accordance with the approved program, the first robot-assisted surgeries in the public healthcare sector of Uzbekistan were successfully performed. Robot-assisted surgical procedures were carried out on a patient born in 1960 diagnosed with a “colon tumor” and a patient born in 1971 diagnosed with a “hiatal hernia.”

The surgeries were performed jointly by leading experts from the People’s Republic of China—Professor Cui Chunhui and Associate Professor Xie Lang—together with local surgeons of the Center.

The launch of robotic surgery marks a new stage in the development of minimally invasive and high-technology surgical procedures in Uzbekistan, laying a solid foundation for the formation of a national school of robot-assisted surgery and the gradual introduction of advanced medical technologies across the regions of the country.