Mikhail Mishustin: “An additional sum of almost 5 billion roubles has been allocated to buy medicines for patients infected with COVID-19 who are undergoing treatment in hospital, including medications that are not registered in Russia, some of which are especially needed by the patients who are seriously ill with COVID-19.”
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks:
Good afternoon, colleagues,
Meeting of the Presidium of the Government Coordination Council to control the incidence of the novel coronavirus infection in the Russian Federation
On behalf of the President, the Government helps Russian constituent entities to buy the necessary medications. An additional sum of almost 5 billion roubles has been allocated to buy medicines for patients infected with COVID-19 who are undergoing treatment at the hospitals, including medications that are not registered in Russia, some of which are especially needed by the patients who are seriously ill with COVID-19.
Batches of these medicines will be made available to medical institutions by the end of the year.
I would also like to discuss coronavirus diagnostics, separately. We all realise perfectly well that it is easier to treat any disease if it is detected at an early stage. The sooner people find out that they are sick, the sooner they will be quarantined and the fewer people they will infect.
It is important to carry out as many tests as possible. Rospotrebnadzor has issued a resolution to carry out at least 300 tests per 100,000 people daily. I want all constituent entities of the Russian Federation to take this seriously.
Of course, testing must remain accessible. To this end, the Government has amended the State Guarantee Programme for Free Provision of Medical Care for the current year and the next two years so that the PCR tests remain covered by the mandatory health insurance policy, primarily, in cases with ARVI or COVID symptoms, as well as following express tests to confirm the diagnosis, and to assess the effectiveness of treatment to make sure that a person has fully recovered.
