Local foods, food-safety habits, hospital daily life, travel during treatment, the health system, language and emergency numbers from reliable sources.
Keep a translation of your diagnosis, treatment plan and medication list in this language or in English. Many hospitals offer interpreters — ask in advance.
Health system overview
Specialised care is concentrated mainly in Ashgabat; treatment can be expensive for visitors. Full travel insurance and a supply of your own medicines are important.
Leukemia care: centres
Turkmenistan
No reliable data
Main centres
Scientific-Clinical Center of Oncology, Ashgabat
Scientific-Clinical Center for Maternal and Child Health, Ashgabat (children’s hematology)
Transplant: We found no reliable public information on stem cell transplants in the country; independent media reported in 2022 that they were not performed and that patients had to travel abroad.
Good to know: According to the government website, a new International Scientific-Clinical Center of Oncology, with outpatient hematology departments for adults and children, is due to open in Ashgabat in 2026.
Wherever you live, the core rules with low immunity are the same: clean hands, keeping raw and cooked food apart, cooking thoroughly, chilling quickly and choosing pasteurised dairy. At local markets and street stalls, watch how food is stored. Ask your team whether tap water is fine for you; if unsure, use bottled or boiled water.
Hospital daily life
In many hospitals in this region a family member stays with the patient to help with daily care, and families often bring food from home. With low immunity, agree with the ward which food can be brought and how it should be prepared and stored. Fewer visitors, and none who are unwell, lowers the risk of infection.
Travel during treatment
Talk to your care team before planning a trip — timing, blood counts and vaccines.
Carry a doctor’s letter with your diagnosis, treatment plan and medication list (including in English).
Pack medicines in original packaging, in hand luggage, with extra; some medicines have import rules.
Get travel insurance that covers your existing condition and read the terms.
Find the nearest haematology centre and the emergency number at your destination in advance.
Live vaccines can be unsafe during treatment — ask your team before any vaccination.
Ask your team about clot risk on long flights and move around when you can.