President wields scalpel to open new hospital

The president of Turkmenistan today opened a cancer hospital by personally performing the first operation.

Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov, a trained dentist, removed a benign tumour from behind the ear of a patient assisted by German and local doctors.

Mr Berdymukhamedov was health minister when autocratic leader Saparmurat Niyazov dismissed health workers and closed hospitals.

He reversed some of those policies since coming to power after Mr Niyazov’s death in 2006, but there are concerns he may impose his personal quirks on the health system.

Officials have suggested his book on medicinal plants should become a handbook for health workers.