Russia's healthcare system: in need of modernisation

doi:10.1136/bmj.b2132

Published 25 June 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2132
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b2132

Analysis

Russia’s healthcare system: in need of modernisation

Sergey V Shishkin, prorector¹, Vasiliy V Vlassov, professor²

¹ State University Higher School of Economics, Pokrovsky Boulevard, 11, Office E302, Moscow 109028, Russia , ² Moscow Medical Academy, Moscow

Correspondence to: S V Shishkin shishkin@hse.ru

Russia’s health system is both inefficient and inequitable.Sergey Shishkin and Vasiliy Vlassov describe the challengesit faces and the government’s plans for reform

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The transition to a market economy caused enormous shock tothe Russian healthcare system.¹ Although health services improvedduring the economic growth in 1999-2007, the system still needsextensive reform. Modernisation of the public healthcare systemwas one of the highest priorities in the government’s2008 plan for long term socioeconomic development of the RussianFederation.² We describe the health reforms implemented in thepast few years and the current plans for reform to 2020.

The enormous health problems facing Russia have been recognisedfor several decades. Life expectancy in Russia has been fallingsince the 1960s, in contrast to the steady rise in western Europe(figure). One statistic that caused widespread concern was thesharp rise in mortality in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Whilethis was interpreted as a consequence of Russian drinking habitsit is now understood as a temporary phenomenon related to thepolitical . . . [Full text of this article]