Poverty reduction as a method for improving the effectiveness of the health system in Russia

Abstract

The article is dedicated to analysis of the healthcare system effectiveness in Russia and its comparison with other countries of the world. According to global ratings, Russian healthcare system lags behind developed countries. The author sees reduction of poverty as one of major tasks in state healthcare policy. This policy should also include the leveling of inequalities in access to medical services and medicines. Without such access positive changes in the field of public health and public health cannot be achieved, since the connection between poverty and poor health today is obvious. According to global ratings, Russian healthcare system lags behind developed countries. This fact is demonstrated by statistical indicators and sociological polls, according to which the population assesses the achievements of domestic health care as quite low. According to Russian citizens it doesn’t match the global standards. The author also pays attention to the existing models of health care in the modern world and comes to the conclusion that the boundaries between them are blurred and as such the effectiveness of health care practically does not depend on type of the models dominating in different countries. An attempt is made to assess the policy of the Russian state in the field of healthcare. The optimization of healthcare in Russia was recognized as unsuccessful even by the initiators of the reforms; the situation with inequality of access to quality medical care only gets worse. At the same time, there are certain successes in the formation of a healthy lifestyle among the population. The conclusion is made that it is impossible to make significant positive changes in the field of healthcare and public health without overcoming the enormous poverty of the Russian population, because the link between poverty and poor health is undeniable, and one of the goals of health policy is to balance inequalities in access to quality health services. The empirical base is data from the Bloomberg Economic News Agency, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), and the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) regarding health issues in Russia and in the world. This article will be of interest to specialists in sociology of medicine and health, economic sociology, as well as to a wide circle of readers interested in the problems of modern healthcare, health, and the healthy lifestyle.