Background: Govi-Altai Province is located in an arid region of Mongolia with limited water resources, where the main sources of drinking water are groundwater and springs. Therefore, regular assessment of water quality is essential for protecting public health and ensuring sustainable management of water resources. The Mongolian Standard MNS 0900:2018 “Drinking Water. Hygienic Requirements, Quality and Safety Assessment” provides the theoretical basis for this study and establishes criteria for evaluating physicochemical properties of drinking water. Previous studies reported high hardness, mineralization, and heavy metal content in some soums, occasionally exceeding MNS limits, yet long-term systematic studies are scarce. The study hypothesizes that “certain chemical parameters in drinking water of Govi-Altai soums may exceed the maximum allowable standard limits. Aim: To evaluate the physicochemical parameters of drinking water in the sums of Govi-Altai Province during 2019– 2024 and to assess hygienic risks by comparing the results with the MNS 0900:2018 standard Material and Methods: This study analyzed 112 drinking water samples collected from 2019 to 2024. Major physicochemical parameters were assessed and compared with MNS 0900:2018 standards. Results: The average pH of the soums’ water was approximately 7.3, within the standard range. However, water hardness was high in some soums (Bigēr 17.4 mg-eq/L, Tsogt 8.7 mg-eq/L), exceeding recommended levels. Nitrate reached up to 60 mg/L, fluoride 2.1 mg/L, and iron 0.9 mg/L, with some soums exceeding standard limits, indicating potential health risks. Water from Yesonbulag soum complied with standard hardness limits, demonstrating variability in water quality across the province. Comparison with studies from Inner Mongolia and Ulaanbaatar highlights differences in hardness, mineral content, and heavy metal levels. Conclusion Physicochemical parameters in drinking water from some Govi-Altai soums exceed standard limits, and high water hardness may pose public health risks.

To study some direct fees paid by a household of a hospitalized patient during the treatment at secondary or tertiary care hospitals.The study was conducted using cross-sectional design. The data was collected from 6 specialized clinical centers, 7 hospitals of provincial and regional diagnostic and treatments centers, and 6 district hospitals using the data of 1335 in-patients hospitalized during 2012-2013. The in- patients’ medical histories were processed using descriptive research methods by using specially designed cards to register the costs for medications and medical equipment. In addition, the questionnaire was used to collect the data on direct and indirect costs associated with hospitalization paid by individuals. Statistical data was analyzed using SPSS 21.0 software. 96% (1282) of total hospitalized patients were covered by health insurance. However, 28.4% of them paid for their drug treatment out-of-pocket. 62% of in-patients who paid for their own medicines responded that the medicines were written in their medical history but the hospitals were out of stock and therefore did not provide them to the patients. 3% of in-patients who paid for their medicines were reimbursed the costs of medicines. When comparing the informal costs associated with a hospital stay to the total household income, 23% of respondents said that those expenditures were high. While 54% of total costs spent by hospitals on diagnosis and treatment of in-patients were used for medicines, the in-patients’ out-of-pocket expenditures were higher in secondary care hospitals.Due to drug supply in secondary and tertiary care hospitals is insufficient to meet the needs for drug treatment; in-patients are required to spend a part of their household income to pay for drug treatment during their hospital stay.