Anti-Cancer Corps

The social program of Russian oncologists will adjust the national project “Health”

The Public Chamber will make another attempt to force the authorities to listen to the opinion of medical specialists and adjust the national priority project “Health”. Today, the chamber's healthcare commission, headed by Leonid Roshal, will discuss experts' proposals for the effective use of financial resources (about 88 billion rubles) allocated by the state in 2006 for this project. According to Mr. Roshal, “the problems that arise during the implementation of the national project are due to the fact that it was developed behind the scenes, and civil society and specialists were unable to make changes.” Many medical specialists were indeed surprised that the substantial financial flows now being directed to the healthcare sector somehow bypassed important “pain” points. In particular, oncology has been deprived - although cancer is in second place among the causes of death for Russians, second only to diseases of the cardiovascular system.

The inadequacy of the assessment of oncological problems has already been pointed out to the government by the State Duma, which recently discussed issues of access to treatment for hundreds of thousands of cancer patients as part of a round table. The head of the Duma Committee on Health Protection, Tatyana Yakovleva, recalled: according to official data, in Russia there are more than 2.3 million patients diagnosed with malignant neoplasms. But not everyone has a chance to take advantage of modern advances in oncology services. Ms. Yakovleva believes that one of the top priorities today is to “increase the accessibility and quality of operations.” However, specialized centers and dispensaries for patients with malignant neoplasms need serious material and technical re-equipment, a large number of modern medications, and doctors need constant advanced training so that the latest successes of Western scientists and pharmacists are reflected in the state of affairs in Russian hospitals.

However, the oncology community does not intend to passively wait for positive changes in the minds of officials of the Ministry of Health and Social Development. Doctors have already announced the start of the implementation of the all-Russian oncology social program “Equal Right to Life”, designed to compensate for the shortcomings of the national project. “I am confident that with the correct distribution of forces and resources, with the combined efforts of the state, scientists, doctors, public and political figures, we can seriously influence the mortality rate from cancer,” said the President of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Director of the Russian Oncology Research Center them. N.N. Blokhina Mikhail Davydov. Academician Davydov, who is the co-chair of the program, hopes that his colleagues will support his initiative and the best achievements of domestic oncologists will become available not only to residents of large cities, but also to the Russian provinces. The chief oncologist of Russia, academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Valery Chisov, agrees with him, believing that the situation can only be changed by a “single team.”

The executive director of the Equal Right to Life program, Dmitry Borisov, says that the main goals are “to enable patients to receive quality treatment regardless of where they are, and to provide oncologists with access to the latest advances in science.” Therefore, within the framework of the program, it is planned to disseminate the experience accumulated in leading Russian oncology centers throughout the country, organize internships for doctors, and help clinics purchase the latest equipment and medicines. “We will make every effort to ensure that the equipment is produced not only at the expense of federal and regional budgets, but also with the assistance of socially responsible companies producing medicines and medical equipment,” assures Mr. Borisov. According to him, the program has already been supported by the company F. Hoffmann La Roche Ltd." producing modern antitumor drugs.

The program will begin in 11 pilot regions, although more than 40 applications have already been received from federal subjects. As Tamara Pilshchikova, Deputy Chairman of the Tula Regional Duma, explained, regions have not yet been able to implement even their own programs to help cancer patients using their own funds. Ms. Pilshchikova believes that the social program can “change the state’s attitude towards cancer patients, who have an equal right to life and quality medical care.”

Alexander BARABANOV