Chapter III. Russian Medical Care

Americans have always judged other countries on the basis American life. The press in the United States of America is no exception, and recently they have been analyzing the dire situation that Russian hospitals find themselves in at this present time. However, the press in the United States does send to over exaggerate these problems, and they tend to shed a very dreary light upon the present state of Russian medicine.

To say that Russian medicine does not have any problems would be to falsify information. In actuality, Russian medicine does have many problems. For example, Russian hospitals are in the very difficult position of having absolutely no money. This much-needed capital needed to pay doctors’ salaries, to buy medicines, needles, etc. without this money, Russian hospitals leave to scramble to find ways of merely surviving in this quickly changing world.

How are many Russian hospitals able to survive? Many doctors are not paid for several months at time. They continue to work merely because they cannot abandon the profession that they have chosen. Many of them argue that they chose to become doctors in order to help people, and they cannot leave it now just because of the mere fact that they are of getting paid.

However, medicine seems to be an even bigger problem. After all, how can a patient hope to be cured without the healing effects of medications that hospitals are supposed to supply? Medicines are very expensive, and Russian hospitals just cannot afford to supply them. Here again, a temporary answer has been reached. The patient must supply his or her own medicine. However, the stay in the hospital continues to be free.

Thus patients are able to supply the medication that they need.

As for the facilities of Russian hospitals, they are in bad need of repair. Buildings are beginning to fall apart, and there is no money to repair them. This casts an eerie glow upon the Russian hospitals when half of the lights in the hospitals do not work. However, this is a much less serious problem than the pervious ones, but nonetheless one that needs to be addressed.

The strength of Russian medicine seems to lie in the people who remain devoted to their given professions. This quality of care that doctors can give considering the circumstances that they are faced with is truly astounding. They are able to work and care for patients as well if not better than the doctors who have all amenities those Western countries usually possess in their hospitals. Despite this lack of medicine, Russian doctors have obviously not forgotten their Hippocratic Oath, and continue to work to help people in the best way that they can.

In conclusion, it would be unfair to say that Russian medicine is in a horrible state. The fact is that it does need monetary help, but the level of competence of Russian medicine is on the same level as any other sophisticated country. If Russia ware able to finance all of its hospitals and supply them with adequate medicines as well as pay their doctors salaries on the time, Russian medicine would certainly be one of the best examples of modern health-care in the world.