The Russian Ministry of Health will spend 55 million rubles to improve the image of healthcare

The Ministry of Health of Russia announced a competition for the provision of services for the production and placement of television materials "to create a positive image of Russian healthcare."

The maximum price of the contract, according to the notice of the competition posted by the Ministry of Health on the public procurement website, is 55.6 million rubles. Applications for participation in the competition are accepted until April 22.

Television materials, the production and placement of which are ordered by the Ministry of Health, should help “increase the prestige of the profession of a medical worker, create a positive attitude towards Russian healthcare, popularize the preventive direction of Russian medicine and popularize the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.”

Member of the Public Chamber, Director of the Fund for Independent Monitoring of Medical Services and Human Health “Health” Eduard Gavrilov, commenting on the plans of the Ministry of Health, in particular, said : “Instead, it is necessary to improve the health care system by improving the quality and availability of medical care, which would be the best advertisement for the ministry ".

Sergei Kalashnikov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection, in an interview with Radio Moskva Speaks, also called the Ministry of Health's spending on improving the image of healthcare completely unjustified. “Advertising will not help healthcare. The people have a very good attitude towards health care and doctors. The people have a negative attitude towards the organizers of healthcare, that is, towards officials, ”Kalashnikov said.

• In the fall of 2014, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation began the next stage of a large-scale healthcare reform, which, among other things, provides for the closure of medical institutions as part of the optimization and the reduction of doctors, primarily of pre-retirement and retirement age.
• In October and November, protest rallies against health care reform were held in a number of Russian cities, including Moscow.
• At the end of 2014, the government announced that due to the difficult economic situation, it would be forced to cut federal budget spending in 2015 by an average of 10%. At the same time, it was emphasized that the social sphere and healthcare would not be affected by the cuts in spending.