Event news

Oleg Ergashev, Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg, reminded of the Presidential Decrees No. 474 of July 21, 2020 (“On National Development Goals of the Russian Federation for the period until 2030”) and No. 204 of May 7, 2018 (“On National Goals and Strategic Objectives of the Russian Federation for the period until 2024”), dedicated, among other things, to the protection of public health. He also cited data from experts of the World Health Organization, according to which the health of the population is influenced by several factors: genetic factors, environmental conditions, lifestyle and medical care.

“St. Petersburg is characterized by a high proportion of people over working age – they constitute a quarter of the population. Our city is a modern megalopolis with a unified strategy of socio-economic development until 2035. We are implementing sectoral state programs, including those to improve health and social well-being, and a comprehensive approach is applied,” Oleg Ergashev stressed.

According to him, the City on the Neva has adopted a number of measures to ensure public health: a regional plan of adaptation to climate change, the regional project Comfortable Environment. Social initiatives are being implemented here: the project Blue Bird – Safe Territory and the project Sports as the Norm of Life, which is to ensure that by the end of 2024, the number of people who are engaged in physical culture and sports will reach 55.9%.

St. Petersburg is working on the development of the transportation system; in particular, there is a Bicycle Petersburg project which helps form a comfortable urban transport environment. Today, 35 bicycle routes with a total length of 126 km have been deployed in the city.

Quality water supply is another component of public health, and the speaker has ensured safety of St. Petersburg drinking water. So, the city treats 99.5% of wastewater.

“We pay special attention to the development of urban infrastructure for the older generation. St. Petersburg is a social city. We have a caregiver service, alarm buttons, care schools, and the project Older Generation. We are supporting the psychological health of citizens through helplines, research, and suicide prevention. In St. Petersburg today there are 250 municipal and 50 federal healthcare institutions and 155 private clinics. There are 55.06 thousand middle-level medical workers and 41.7 thousand high-level medical professionals,” the vice-governor added.

According to him, the development of the healthcare system is connected with the implementation of national projects, strengthening the system of providing medicines, construction of new facilities, as well as the introduction of measures to support health workers. As part of the national project HealthCare, St. Petersburg is already working in a number of areas, the project Lean Polyclinic is operating, measures to reduce mortality have been taken, including mass vaccination, quality control of medical care, etc.

Oleg Ergashev reminded that the Decade of Science and Technology has been declared in Russia, and noted that personalized medicine, high-tech healthcare, and modern technologies will be developed in the future, including the rational use of medicines.

“St. Petersburg’s healthcare trends include people’s conscious attitude to the state of their health, the creation of a digital profile of a person, a high level of competence, motivation and involvement of personnel, innovations in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases,” he added. In addition, said the speaker, St. Petersburg is at the roots of the movement of healthy cities in Russia in support of the international Healthy Cities project by WHO.

Sergey Rybalchenko, Chairman of the Commission on Demography, Protection of Family, Children and Traditional Family Values of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, General Director of the Institute of Scientific and Public Expertise, presented the report “Public Health Navigator: Public-State Partnership to Reduce Premature Mortality”.

He described the status of implementation of the federal project for Strengthening Public Health, part of the national project Demography. One of the objectives of the initiative is to motivate citizens to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Since 2020, 80 million rubles have been allocated for this purpose from the federal budget, as well as additional funds from the regions. For example, the Public Health Navigator project was launched to help involve NGOs and active citizens in the formation of public health systems. In the pilot regions, recommendations were issued taking into account the LYPL index (“lost years of potential life”).

In addition, said Sergey Rybalchenko, the ANO Institute of Scientific and Public Expertise and Healthy Cities, Neighborhoods and Townships Association published a collection of successful practices of NGOs based on the experience of the three regions.

Elena Bogdan, Chairperson of the Healthcare Committee of Minsk City Executive Committee, shared the experience of Belarus in organizing the healthcare system. She noted that in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out globally, health workers were the “most significant resource”.

The Speaker named several threats and challenges that await the healthcare system and society as a whole today. These include the coronavirus pandemic, the threat of new pandemics with unpredictable numbers of mutations, the need to get a vaccine quickly, disruptive media technologies, sanctions, global migration, the rise of non-communicable diseases in the post-COVID period, and others.

Artak Jumayan, Deputy Minister of Health of the Republic of Armenia, presented the main reforms in the field of public health protection in the Republic of Armenia. He said that the country is implementing a Mandatory Health Insurance system for the entire population, measures to combat malignant formations, and an aviation ambulance service. Armenia actively combats tobacco smoking and promotes healthy lifestyles in schools and preschool institutions. Electronic services and telemedicine are being developed here, and disease registers are being created. The country’s authorities pay special attention to the development of regional medicine.

“Healthcare is one of our national security objectives. Such platforms as the Health Forum help us solve many issues,” stressed the speaker.

Viktor Cherepov, Vice President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, spoke about the prospects and problems of implementing corporate programs to protect the health of workers. For example, the RUIE has maintained a library of corporate practices to help the working population since 2004, and in the summer of 2022, the Union signed an agreement with the Healthy Cities, Neighborhoods and Townships Association, which will help spread the best practices and principles of protecting people’s health across the country.

“We have developed a standard of medical care for the working population, which will be included in the index of evaluation of regions. Our joint goal is to keep every worker healthy. The coronavirus pandemic was a trial for us, and we realized that we need to revive the shop floor [medical] service at enterprises,” he said. According to him, one of the first tasks today is to train medical professionals. In addition, it is necessary to continue public work to promote vaccination, expand the vaccination schedule, and set health targets.

The experts of SPIHF 2022 plenary session noted that achievement of important tasks in the sphere of protection and support of public health is possible only if the efforts of all participants are united: medical organizations and scientists, representatives of the authorities and the population.

The session was attended by managers and specialists of health authorities, sectoral ministries and departments, representatives of the World Health Organization in Russia, heads of social blocks of regional administrations, representatives of municipalities, scientists and entrepreneurs, public figures, heads of medical organizations and practicing doctors.

The organizers were the Government of St. Petersburg and EF-International Ltd