Russian Minister of Healthcare Veronika Skvortsova attended a business lunch, Effective Healthcare, held as part of the 17th St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“We have merged all ministries and agencies, all public structures and nongovernmental organisations into a government commission responsible for intersegmental prevention and for inculcating a healthy lifestyle on the national scale. There is a vast potential behind this, as 60% of a nation’s health depends on a healthy lifestyle and comprehensive primary prevention. Russia started seriously engaging in this in the last year and a half,” the Minister said.
Veronika Skvortsova cited the example of the Association of Healthy Russian Cities, which currently unites nearly 30 cities. The leader is Vologda and the Vologda Region. A similar pilot project with a focus on secondary prevention and treatment of chronic diseases is being implemented in the Ryazan Region.
Asked how public-private partnership in healthcare was progressing, Ms Skvortsova said, “We are sure that an effective healthcare system can only be developed on the basis of a public-private partnership.”
The first steps in developing the public-private partnership have been taken in the primary echelon. “We support the organisation of private general practice networks in the primary echelon. This has been practiced in St Petersburg, Moscow, Tatarstan, Chuvashia, Mordovia, and some other Russian regions. Later we plan to promote this on higher levels of the healthcare system. And, of course, pharmaceutical business will be involved in healthcare innovation programmes,” she said.
Source: Ministry of Healthcare
