Health news
21/12/2004 Putin asked Zurabov to be more careful in picking up the expressions
The President of Russia Vladimir Putin asked the Minister of Health and Social Development Mikhail Zurabov to be more careful in picking up the expressions. “You’ve said that there’s no deal staying in hospitals for more than five days. You would better be more careful making such statements”, the President claimed during the meeting with the members of parliament.
“What did you mean?” – Putin asked Zurabov. The headmaster of the Ministry of Health and Social Development said that already in the 1995 year it was specified that in average 20 – 25 percent of medical aid should be represented by the intense-therapeutic places, where one should stay for 5 – 7 days.
“We’ve spoken that the intensification of medical aid and the strengthening of the technical resources are supposed to lead the cutting down the time, spent in hospitals, from 14 – 15 to 6 – 7 days”.
He mentioned that abroad the technical resources and equipment in medical institutions are worn out and replaced once in five years.
“It requires its maximum exploitation”, Zurabov declared. According to him, the stress is made on the pre-hospital treatment and on the sanitary and resort post-hospital treatment.
“I formulated everything rather correctly. It was the Mass Media, who spoilt everything”, Zurabov stated. And got such a commentary from the President: “I assume now that we could approach to these standards, only improving the technical state of medicine”.
The President appealed that these words of the Minister didn’t make the hospitals
show their patients the door in five days.
21/12/2004 The payments for hospital leave could be abolished
The State Duma fixed the sum of money provided to the budget of the Fund of Social Insurance (FSI). Beginning with the 1st of January of 2005 the first two days of disablement will be compensated by the employers. It will cost them about 17 -18 billion rubles.
Now these payments are given by the FSI, which budget reduces from 4 to 3,2 per cent beginning with the 1st of January 2005.
The intention of sharing the procedure of payments with the employers is connected with the fact that beginning with the year 2005 the rate of pay of Unified Social Tax will reduce from 35,6% to 26%. The Federal Budget will lose 286 billion rubles because of it, according to the headmistress of FSI Galina Karelova.
According to independent lowers this decision of the State Duma contradicts the Labor Code and breaks the rights of the insured citizens. In fact, the very specialists emphasize, the government seems to abolish the obligatory social insurance.
This new way of getting the money for hospital leave will actually put the citizens before a dilemma: either to reject the legally owing money, or to be given the sack.
The full text is available only in the Russian version.
17/12/2004 Please, don’t sneeze.The epidemic of influenza will catch us after holidays
A month ago the World Public Health Service claimed that the majority of the countries is not ready for the epidemic influenza, which must be caused by the virus of the bird influenza.
The local outbreaks could be already found in the USA, Belgium, China, Japan and Ukraine.
The Russian medical men are ready to face the invader, according to the chief sanitary inspector of Russia Gennady Onischenko. The epidemic won’t take the upper hand. At the moment the sickness rate doesn’t exceed monthly level. The only exception is South Sakhalin, where the level exceeded more than 30 per cent.
The situation could sound more satisfactory, if not the region authorities were responsible for vaccinating against the disease. Besides, there’s a worship of imported vaccines in our country. We’d better lend an ear to the specialists and give preference to the home vaccine.
As predicted, we are in for 24 million incidents of chill-type diseases during the 2004 – 2005 year, 2 million of which is supposed to be influenza and 22 million – acute respiratory diseases. As predicted, economical damage will reach 40 billion rubles. This sum is huge, but is typical of other countries. Thus, last year in the USA 115 thousand people, diagnosed “influenza”, were taken to hospitals, 40 of them were lost.
And here is the situation in Russia. The increase of influenza is supposed to happen in the second part of January in Krasnoyarsk. Almost 500 thousand citizens of Tatarstan, more than a million of Sverdlovsk dwellers and about 50 thousand of Saransk citizens were vaccinated against influenza. Modern remedies for the disease were aimed at the Amursky children’s home. This is rather essential, as it’s known that first of all influenza affects babies under two, children from three to six and people of declining years.
Irina Krasnopolskaya.
17/12/2004 Free prescription
The topic of ensuring the people who have privileges is one of the hottest now. People, who call for consultation, in their majority, touch the problem concerning free medicines. The specialists of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia respond to the most urgent ones.
I’m legalizing my disablement. When will I have the right to get my free medicines?
By the time your monthly payments have been fixed you’ll get your money. From this very moment you’ll have the right to get free medicines you’re prescribed.
Where can I get the information about the additional drug ensuring?
- first of all from your physician,
- in the insurance medical organization
- in the local fund of Obligatory Medical Insurance.
Can I change the unnecessary medicines for money?
You can legalize it till the 1st of October 2005 year. Then, beginning with the 1st of January 2006 year, your monthly money will be paid in full measure. Speaking about the year 2005 this right isn’t provided.
Which medicines can one get having these free prescriptions?
There are 300 international medicines in the very list.
Where can I get acquainted with the list of the medicines?
Your physician ought to tell you about all these as well as the medical insuring agent. Besides the list is published on the official site of our “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” newspaper - www.rg.ru.
What shall I to do, if the necessary drug isn’t included in the list? Can I still get it for free?
If the remedy isn’t included into the list, but it’s undoubtedly necessary to the patient, the physician can prescribe it, but only after he considers the expert commission of the out-patients’ clinic.
Is the quantity of the drug limited?
Every time the dose is fixed by the physician, who takes into consideration the diagnosis and the state of the patient.
They say there will be a tough control over the free drugs. Should one show his documents together with the prescription?
No. Nothing of the kind is demanded.
Will my daughter or my neighbor be able to get my drugs? It’s very hard for me to walk.
Every person whom you give your prescription will have the right to get the remedy you need.
Will the drugs present constantly in the drug-store?
The system provides creating of the reserve of medicines.
If there’s no remedy I need, can they give me another one?
You’ll be offered a remedy, which is identical to its pharmacological effect.
Where can I turn, if they refuse to give the necessary drug for free?
In this case you should turn to in the insurance medical organization or to the local fund of Obligatory Medical Insurance.
I’m going to leave the town for several months. Is it possible to get the remedy for a longer period?
No. The physician must control your state periodically. That’s why you must attend your physician regularly, following his advices.
Can a person bring a suit against the drug-store for taking money for “Free prescription”?
Yes. You can also bring a suit the medical insurance agent.
Does it mean that all the remedies will be given with the presence of the prescription?
Yes, those remedies of no prescribed supply, which are in the list, will be given with the presence of the prescription.
Irina Nevinnaya
Full text is available only in the Russian version.
17/12/2004 Onischenko lashed the regions for exceeded radiation
According to the sanitary chief inspector of the Russian Federation Gennady Onischenko, radiation treatment of the population exceeds the standards in 29 regions of Russia.
The sanitary chief inspector draws such conclusion after analyzing the ensuring of the radiation safety against the influence of the main radiation sources: man-caused, medical and of course natural ones. First of all it concerns medical and natural sources.
About 70 per cent of medical x-ray equipment is worn out, the length of warranty has come to the end; all these causes the exceeded degree of radiation treatment. And in the 18 regions of the Russian Federation the dose of the radiation treatment isn’t taken into consideration at all.
There’s no control concerning natural sources of radiation in 10 regions of the country: Altai, Ingushetia, Karachayevo-Cherkhessiya, Tiva including.
With a view to decrease the dose of radiation, got by the Russians, Gennady Onischenko suggests that a number of protection actions should be undertaken, among which are: the ensuring of the control of the radiation safety against natural radiation sources; the decrease of the doses got by the patients during radiation treatment; the change of the worn out equipment to modern one.
Full text is available only in the Russian version.
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