Mikhail Mishustin: “One of our priorities is to provide an effective social protection system. In some cases, social protection must be provided by default. Forty-two support measures are currently assigned proactively. Almost 23 million people received different categories of benefits via this system last year.”
A strategic session on implementing socioeconomic development initiatives: social welfare, environment and a state for the people
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks:
Good afternoon, colleagues.
We continue implementing the initiatives concerning the country’s socioeconomic development that were launched under the President’s decision.
Today we will review the results achieved across the key areas that are important to the public.
We will start with healthcare initiatives.
Primary Care for Everyone is one of them. In addition to the Healthcare national project, we are modernising the healthcare management system as part of this initiative.
A huge number of processes has been digitised including medical appointments and issuing medical certificates. Modern technology has taken the bureaucratic burden off the medical staff.
Currently, anybody can request 11 types of medical documents online via the Gosuslugi public services portal. And documents can still be issued on paper if it is more convenient. There are other digital services such as making doctor’s appointments online or accessing electronic medical records. More than 39 million people used these services last year.
Telemedicine is gaining popularity. Around 2.5 million patients received medical advice from home without visiting a healthcare facility.
We must continue with these innovative approaches to help doctors provide effective care at all stages. It is also necessary to monitor patients, especially with chronic conditions, in order to be able to offer timely medical help.
Another important area of activity that was launched at the President’s initiative is the development of medical rehabilitation. Medical institutions are being provided with the necessary equipment. Over the past few years, more than 700 units have been re-equipped. Over 2.5 million citizens have turned to specialists to undergo rehabilitation. Demand for these services rose markedly after the Covid-19 pandemic. But even now it is very important to make such treatment more accessible for a wide variety of diseases.
The experience of the Covid-19 pandemic showed that we must be able to quickly respond to a changing epidemiological situation and act proactively to protect people. This is precisely the goal of the Sanitation Shield (Sanitarny shchit) initiative. Over the past few years, the network of centres for studying dangerous infections has been expanded, with 19 new mobile laboratories established to respond within 24 hours to threats of their spread anywhere in the country.
About 40 tests have been developed for the rapid diagnosis of various diseases. They make it possible to identify illnesses such as influenza, measles, tuberculosis or certain dangerous viruses in a person within an hour, so that treatment can start quickly.
The establishment of a robust system for preventing the spread of potential diseases should certainly continue.
We pay special attention to medical science. Collaborative efforts among educational organisations, scientists and enterprises have resulted in the creation of innovative products to enhance public health. Medications based on cell technologies are also under development. One test system for newborn babies has already been registered. It is capable of detecting about 2,500 hereditary diseases in the first days of an infant’s life, and this makes it possible to start timely treatment and thus help a baby.
Clinical trials of tissue engineering products for the treatment of arthronosos and fractures are nearing completion, promising many patients the opportunity to receive such advanced treatment.
We hope that our specialists and scientists will introduce even more valuable projects.
Now let's discuss the social sphere. One of the key challenges here is to create a capable social safety net for accessing Government aid without bureaucratic delays and excessive paperwork, and as quickly as possible. In some cases, this aid should be provided automatically. We are systematically working to implement this approach as part of the Social Treasury project.
As we stand, 42 support measures are provided at request or even proactively, without submitting an application. Last year, almost 23 million people received various benefits in this format, including payments to people with disabilities, maternity benefits, support for families with children, maternity capital, and many more. The government services website informs subscribers about the benefits they are entitled to such as birth benefits or retirement benefits.
We will continue to expand these mechanisms. By the end of the decade, all types of support, including federal, regional, and municipal support, will be provided based on unified standards and regulations.
We are using the Country to People project to make interaction between citizens and businesses with government entities less complicated. It is important to steer all government bodies towards promptly and effectively addressing the variety of issues faced by individuals and businesses. Exploring a particular life situation is a crucial element in this work, and regional and federal officials are trained to do this. Last year, more than 6,000 officials, including managerial staff, took this training, and another 10,000 or so will be trained before the end of December.
Nine dedicated laboratories have been launched in major cities where existing services are tested by users to assess convenience. These services get streamlined, if needed.
All of that is a significant phase in shaping a new modern culture of interaction between individuals and government entities that relies on feedback from people, as emphasised by the President. This work will continue.
Speaking of socially important initiatives, I would like to highlight two more of them. First, the well-known Pushkin Card which helps young people 14 to 22 learn more about the Russian cultural legacy.
As of today, about 11,500 institutions are part of this programme, which is 1,500 more than planned.
Over the time this programme has been operational, more than 53 million tickets have been sold, which is double what was planned. About 9.5 million people have attended various events using the card. I’m absolutely certain that many more will want to take advantage of these opportunities and use the card to attend exciting events, exhibitions, cinemas, and theatres. The Government has set aside the necessary funds. I encourage young people to make the most of this card.
As part of the Invented in Russia initiative, we now have creative industry schools for those who want to try projects that are at the intersection of art and innovation. There are 67 such schools in 49 regions with about 9,500 teenagers engaged in innovative activities, such as creating animated films and video content, and composing music using the latest technology. They develop apps and computer games as well. This year, 26 more educational institutions like this will open in 25 regions. Even more young people will be able to showcase their talents. Helping everyone in the country rise to their full potential is important.
Colleagues.
Today I would like to focus on the education of professionals. One of our priorities is to provide the skilled professionals that the national economy needs. This includes people with secondary educations. We are currently carrying out the Professionalism initiative. We have established 220 industrial clusters that unite colleges and companies in 24 economic areas.
Over a thousand key companies have been involved in this effort. About one and a half million students have had the opportunity to use cutting-edge equipment in their educations.
We need to involve more companies in the real economy in this project. They should take part in drafting academic programmes by providing many openings for practical training and helping colleges upgrade their material and technical bases.
In many respects, the future of our companies depends on real masters. For young people, this is an opportunity to receive an interesting profession with a good salary.
I have met with college students many times. I can tell you that they are receiving a fantastic education and they talk about the future with enthusiasm. Credit for all this goes to the synergy of the companies that are waiting for them after graduation and, of course, their teachers and the college system in general.
Resolving the issues of professionalism will give us an opportunity to prepare specialists for reaching one of our main goals – to achieve technological sovereignty in all areas.
Colleagues.
Today I would like to focus on the education of professionals. One of our priorities is to provide the skilled professionals that the national economy needs. This includes people with secondary educations. We are currently carrying out the Professionalism initiative. We have established 220 industrial clusters that unite colleges and companies in 24 economic areas.
Over a thousand key companies have been involved in this effort. About one and a half million students have had the opportunity to use cutting-edge equipment in their educations.
We need to involve more companies in the real economy in this project. They should take part in drafting academic programmes by providing many openings for practical training and helping colleges upgrade their material and technical bases.
In many respects, the future of our companies depends on real masters. For young people, this is an opportunity to receive an interesting profession with a good salary.
I have met with college students many times. I can tell you that they are receiving a fantastic education and they talk about the future with enthusiasm. Credit for all this goes to the synergy of the companies that are waiting for them after graduation and, of course, their teachers and the college system in general.
Resolving the issues of professionalism will give us an opportunity to prepare specialists for reaching one of our main goals – to achieve technological sovereignty in all areas.
Today’s agenda includes four environment- and climate-related initiatives. I'll start with the one dubbed General Cleanup which is a major and very necessary project designed to reverse many decades of damage caused to nature. Last year, we set aside over 3.5 billion roubles to fund it. This year, we appropriated almost the same amount, even slightly more. However, the amount of funding allocated to this is less important than our efforts to get this project off the ground. The President urged us to take a closer look at what lies around us.
In many regions that we visit, we see sunken vessels, piles of debris, and much more alongside modern production facilities, excellent infrastructure, and beautifully landscaped grounds.
I believe we should advance this side of the General Cleanup effort in all corners of our country.
We have set an ambitious goal of eliminating landfills, hazardous wells, abandoned industrial sites, and sunken vessels, and protecting people’s health from the harmful impact of these things. Over the past two years, about 150 wells from the unallocated subsoil reserve fund have been closed. We have raised and disposed of 131 sunken ships. I remember the time we raised our first ship.
It is imperative to continue making sure that objects like this do not exist in the first place. We will, of course, hear out the proposals concerning this matter today.
It is important to design a system for rational waste management and processing. The Closed-Loop Economy initiative is designed to address this matter. The law has been amended accordingly, and regulatory acts to put it into practice are being drafted. For example, secondary resources will be scrapped and burying them will become illegal in 2030. Today, we will also discuss further steps to advance these efforts.
We have successfully expanded the mineral resource base as part of the Geology: Revival of the Legends initiative. New hydrocarbon fields and solid mineral deposits are being discovered. In the future, they will provide manufacturing industries with mineral resources and create new highly qualified jobs in the subsoil use industry and many related sectors.
