Medical Sovereignty of Russia: the Problem of Dependence of Domestic Elites on Therapy Abroad

Abstract

The article considers the problem of dependence of Russian elite groups on foreign medicine. The analysis of world practice has shown that the foreign medical dependence of elites is characteristic of a number of developing countries, as well as countries with an "oil curse", when foreign economic dependence and foreign medical dependence complement each other. Over the past decades, including the period of anti-Russian sanctions since 2014, publicly available information on cases of medical care provided to federal and regional high-level officials, well-known artists and professional athletes has been systematized. Using the example of the accessibility of foreign medicine for the political and managerial establishment of Russia, the selectivity of anti-Russian sanctions, convenient for external opponents, is shown. At the same time, Russia did not decide on a directive ban on elites using medical care abroad. The stories of media pressure on politicians and businessmen (E.M. Primakov, O.Y. Tinkov) have been revealed, showing the personal vulnerability of people who have become dependent on foreign medicines and therapy. At the same time, a number of examples have confirmed the operability of a possible scenario of a complete ban on elites receiving medical care abroad as a catalyst for the development of domestic medicine, pharmaceutical and medical industries, as well as a way to equalize elites before the "collective West" in the rights to external medical care.