With a thought about the elderly
The State Duma discussed legislative regulation
providing medical care to the elderly
A "round table" on the topic was held in the State Duma: "Improvement of legislation regulating medical care for the elderly and their drug provision", organized by the Communist Party faction.
Opening the discussion, Deputy Chairman of the Health Protection Committee Oleg Kulikov drew attention to the fact that the aging of the population is a global problem. In Russia, about 33 million people belong to the elderly, their number increases by a million annually and in ten years will reach 30% of the country's population. This imposes special obligations, including ensuring access to medical care. According to experts, about a third of the healthcare budget is spent on helping the elderly. Elderly people often cannot afford to turn to commercial medicine, so special approaches and special legislative solutions are needed.
In relation to children, women and the elderly, it is possible to judge how socially oriented a particular state is, said the head of the Communist Party faction Gennady Zyuganov. The social nature of the Russian state is fixed in the Constitution, but in practice there are many problems with the implementation of these provisions. Therefore, it is especially important, even in the current reduced budget, to provide funds to support the socially disadvantaged, to ensure guarantees of their protection. Only professionally trained people can cope with the problem of the growing number of elderly people, so taking care of children is no less important than supporting the elderly. Funds can be found, for example, through the competent use of natural resources or the redistribution of tax revenues.
Olga Tkacheva, the chief freelance specialist-geriatrician of the Ministry of Health of Russia, drew attention to the fact that elderly people, especially in Russia, often suffer from several diseases, which complicates and increases the cost of both diagnosis and treatment. In addition, the elderly have an increasing need for long-term care, the organization of long-term care. Modern geriatrics, that is, the study, prevention and treatment of diseases of senile age aims not just to combat age-associated diseases, but active longevity, improving the quality of human life. In such conditions, the task of organizing a geriatric service as a single system that would ensure coordination not only between the various health services themselves, but also health and social protection becomes urgent. Equally important is the development of the professional education system, the development of a unified standard for the training of geriatricians, the generalization of clinical recommendations, and the support of scientific research in the field of gerontology and geriatrics.
Pavel Vorobyov, Chairman of the Moscow City Scientific Society of Therapists, listed a number of legislative measures that could make medical care more accessible, including for the elderly.
The use of modern electronic technologies makes it possible to introduce mechanisms of responsible self-treatment, including self-diagnosis using various devices, biometrics, condition monitoring, data transmission for analysis to coordinating doctors. In diabetes mellitus, for example, competent self-control can significantly improve the patient's condition. But the provision of medical care in households is not reflected in any way in the current legislation.
P. Vorobyov described the problem of trafficking in narcotic painkillers as requiring an immediate solution. The tightening of the rules for their sale has led to the fact that patients are forced to turn to the shadow market. It is necessary to restore the order in which pharmacies could legally have an up-to-date supply of necessary drugs.
In addition, the expert drew attention to the incorrect use of the term "orphan" in Russian legislation – our laws speak of orphan, or rare diseases, whereas it is more accurate to talk about orphan technologies. This implies a different approach to the problem – not diseases, but rarely used technologies become the subject of regulation.
Also p .Vorobyov drew attention to the remuneration of doctors, calling the current practice vicious, in which the basic guaranteed part of the salary of medical workers is only 25%, and the rest is incentive payments. These proportions must be radically changed.
The participants of the discussion, among whom were representatives of practical medicine, medical universities and research institutes, repeatedly noted the need to create a specialized geriatric service in Russia that would ensure effective interaction between health and social protection authorities. In addition, it was noted that when creating any regulatory documents regulating the provision of care to patients, especially management protocols, geriatric aspects and features of the elderly contingent should be taken into account. These documents should also provide for the use of new orphan technologies in the treatment.
An important task was called the creation of a system for providing essential medicines to the entire population with reimbursement of the costs of drugs included in the reimbursement list based on a comprehensive clinical and economic assessment. According to experts, people with chronic non-communicable diseases and rare diseases of the elderly should be included in this system.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru10.06.2015