CIS countries representatives discussed tools to improve quality and accessibility of primary health care

CIS countries have gained extensive experience in building effective primary health care. The best practices in this area were discussed by Commonwealth countries representatives of ministries and specialized health institutes at the session "Primary Health Care: Improving Accessibility and Efficiency".

This session was held within the frames of international forum "Healthy Society", which is taking place in St. Petersburg. The moderator of the session was Olga Kobyakova, Director of Russian Research Institute of Health (RIH).

"Primary health care in any country is the point of an individual's first contact with healthcare system. Depending on what this contact will be like - whether a medical problem is solved - largely depends on people's attitude to healthcare system as a whole. All countries present at the forum came out of the unified Soviet healthcare system. We had a common start, but then each country went its own way", Olga Kobyakova noted.

The experience of primary health care development in Kazakhstan was shared by the Minister of Health of Kazakhstan Azhar Giniyat. According to her, one of the main directions of all state programs for healthcare development in the country was primary health care improvement.

"Today, the project "Healthy Nation" is being implemented in Kazakhstan. Its main focus is affordable, high-quality primary health care. Now more than 5 thousand medical organizations provide primary health care to the population", she said.

Gafur Mukhsinzoda, First Deputy Minister of Health and Social Protection of Tajikistan, told about personnel recruiting to rural medical institutions in Tajikistan. Choosing a job in the countryside, a young specialist receives benefits, Muhsinzoda emphasized.

"You can complete a clinical residency for free. The salary will be 10% higher than that of a specialized physician", he said.

Uzbekistan is also facing a shortage of medical personnel in rural areas, said Umidulla Riskiyev, Head of the Uzbek Health Ministry's main department for organizing medical and preventive care.

"A year ago, the state introduced a rural doctor program. The benefits include a one-time payment of a tenfold salary, double salary for three years, office housing, and after three years of work one can enter clinical residency for free and without exams", Riskiyev explained.

Knar Gonyan, Head of the Medical Aid Policy Department of the Armenian Ministry of Health, told about reforming of rural outpatient clinics in Armenia.

"Reform processes include the construction of new rural outpatient clinics, repair and equipping of existing ones and reorganization of primary health care institutions in order to strengthen the efficiency of their work. Saved financial resources are allocated for population screening", Gonyan noted.

Meanwhile, Belarus is thinking about increasing the share of digitalization in primary health care sector, said Dmitry Ruzanov, Director of the Republican Scientific and Practical Center of Medical Technologies, Informatization, Management and Economics of Healthcare.

"We have a pilot project of medical records paperless circulation in the outpatient system. Also, in 2023 we want to completely abandon paper prescription - electronic prescriptions have proven to be in demand by the population", he noted, adding that there is a great demand for this service even among the older people.

Fazil Huseynbekov, Head of the Health Organization Department of the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan told about primary health care system development in Azerbaijan.

"The pandemic showed that countries with a strong primary health care system were able to avoid high mortality from COVID-19. Azerbaijan was among them", he said.

The main figures indicating primary health care development in Russia were shared by Ekaterina Karakulina, Director of the Department of Medical Care Organization and Health Resort Management of the Ministry of Health of Russia.

"We have 43 thousand medical outpatient clinics and rural health posts, 12 thousand adults and 3 thousand children outpatient clinics and outpatient structural units", she said.

Ilya Balanin, Chairman of the MHIF, told about the funds allocated from the Russian budget for primary health care development.

"This year the budget of the Mandatory Health Insurance Fund will exceed 3 trillion rubles. Of these, 2.7 trillion is allocated to fund territorial programs, of which 39% goes to fund primary health care," he said.

In order to motivate the population to undergo medical examination, it is possible to provide people with the opportunity to receive this service on weekends, says Nikolay Emelyanov, Deputy Chairman of the Leningrad Region Government on social issues.

"We have provided an opportunity for citizens to undergo a medical examination within one day. Those who cannot pass it on weekdays, have the opportunity to come on weekends", the speaker shared the experience of the Leningrad region.