Chief physician of the Klin municipal hospital Alexey Labutin (right) gives the president a tour.
Photo: Alexander Miridonov
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Medvedev Has Session in Clinic
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was in the Klin municipal clinic outside Moscow yesterday, where he held a meeting of the government on the development of medicine through 2020. Russians smoke and drink too much, die too young and are sick too often, the participants in the session stated. They promised to allocate more money to develop healthcare and encourage a healthy lifestyle. The Klin hospital is located on the Moscow – St. Petersburg Highway and, largely for that reason, it is equipped with the most modern emergency room and trauma facilities.
Before the session, the president toured the hospital, visiting the blood transfusion center, where they transfuse over 1000 liters per year, the intensive care facility and the restorative medicine ward, with its own gym and swimming pool. The he met with First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, Deputy Prime and Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin, Deputy Prime Alexander Zhukov and Minister of Health and Social Development Tatyana Golikova. The president stated at the meeting that the concept for medical development through 2020 is in its final stage of drafting and that financing for medicine will be increased by several timers in that period.
Medvedev said that priority would be given to the creation of effective medical insurance. “That can be done if the insurance companies take on real responsibility for insurance risks when a citizen falls ill and for the quality of his treatment,” the president said. He said creating competition in healthcare, which “is almost imperceptible today,” is another priority.
Golikova noted with alarm that morbidity has been rising for the last 16 years and invalidity has not fallen. Drinking and smoking are practically the main factors in the high mortality rate in Russia. The president echoed his dismay at the troubling statistics. “Only the finance minister hasn’t said how much funds will be allocated,” Golikova noted. “Now he will say, but observers will leave the room,” the president instructed.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 15, 2008
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