At the Chemist’s.

On receiving prescription from a doctor all of us need medicines which are ordered or bought at a chemist’s.

There are usually two departments in a large chemist’s. At the chemist’s department one can have the medicines right away. Other drugs have to be ordered at the prescription department.

At the chemist’s all the drugs are kept in drug cabinets. Every small bottle, a tube or a box of medicine has a label on it. The color of the label indicates the way of drugs’ administration - externally or internally. The dose to be taken and the directions for administration are also indicated on a label. Indicating the dose and the name of any medicine is necessary for chemists, nurses, doctors and patients themselves. It prevents confusing different remedies, some of which are poisonous.

To avoid untoward reactions every patient must know well that he is taking the right medicine and in a correct dosage.

At the chemist’s one can find small parcels of different powders, ampules of solutions for injections, tablets for internal and sublingual use, tubes of different ointments, vitamins and sleeping pills, sedatives and tonics and so on.

There we can also get various subjects of personal hygiene and things for taking care of patients. These are hot water bottles, thermometer, dressings, ice-bags, mustard plasters and so on.

Health Service in Russia. Medical Insurance.

Health service in Russia is both preventive and curative. It is available to the whole population. The most distinctive feature of it is the attention paid to prophylaxis. It is known that one of the main available methods of preventing the spread of diseases is health education. Therefore we pay much attention to the popularization of medical science among the population.

There are several types of medical institutions in Russia that provide medical assistance to the population. They are polyclinics, hospitals and dispensaries. Most of them are state-controlled institutions but there are also private clinics, which are available to those who can afford them.

Medical insurance in Russia is provided in two ways: compulsory and voluntary medical insurance.

In our country like in many other countries in the world Russian citizens who are employed or self-employed are to pay monthly contribution to the National Insurance and Health scheme. These contributions provide a right to all people to get free medical treatment. This kind of insurance is called compulsory. It covers all the population in Russia. Compulsory medical program guarantees primary health care, emergency aid, diagnostics and treatment in out- and in-patient departments, preventive medicine to all citizens of Russia. Voluntary medical insurance operates on the basis of voluntary medical insurance programs. It provides supplemental medical services that are not covered by the compulsory medical insurance programs. Voluntary medical insurance may be provided to individuals or to groups of individuals.