Zmicier Shautsou:We should reform health services to prevent the system's self-destruction

The head of the Belarusan Association of Medical Officers and the Deputy of the House of Representatives assures that free medicine remains, though not forever and not for everyone.

Zmicier Shautsou, the head of the Belarusan Association of Medical Officers, the Deputy of the House of Representatives and one of the authors who introduced change into the Public Health Service Act, told EuroBelarus Information Service about the future reforms in the sphere of public health.

- It is always useful to carry out reforms, as if the mechanism stops, self-destruction starts then. The process of self-cleaning should be constantly going on, all the more that we live in the information age when new technologies come and go all the time. We should compete with other systems and move forward in providing available medical aid of high quality. And it is in this vein that the reforms should be introduced.

 - What is it in the public health system that requires immediate change?

- First, the reforms in the ambulatory and clinical institutions, ambulance system, hospitals, and further development of health-care agencies in rural area aimed at providing people with competent medical aid. Information technologies should be introduced alongside with the online consultations; everything has to be worked into practice step-by-step, gradually, consistently and with full awareness.

Today we witness serious workload that the doctors face, which is the result of the situation when hospitals are understaffed, both with qualified doctors and nursing staff. We should enhance the prestige of the profession and the level of trust to doctors together with the increase of salary.

- But can this reform lead to the situation when medicine is regulated by financial relations “clinic (hospital)-patient” only?

- It is sad when people are thinking that reforms presuppose increase of payment and expansion of paid services, whereas it is actually the last thing that the developers of new draft on public health are thinking about. Of course, we introduce paid services in order to compete with private medical centers; however, whether to pay or not is still up to the patient. Because we have socialized medicine system, and any help, even the one that requires high technologies is provided for free if required. Introducing paid services is not what the reform is meant for.

- Lots of questions arise when considering the intention to embody in the law the case when the patient is obliged to pay for treatment himself if his health is impaired due to the alcohol abuse. Is it legal? Besides, alcoholism is a disease, too.

- This point should be open to wide discussion, but first we have to adapt, to endorse and to discuss it with the working groups in order to make it clear for everyone. I can’t say what is to become with this suggestion; there are no particular ways to solve this question. One more question arises when the person is on narcologist’s register list. If this person arrives at hospital sober, he will get medical aid, even if he is registered at narcologist’s.

- And what about the diseases he acquired during the time when he abused alcohol?

- We can’t let people die or let their health worsen if they don’t have money for therapy. However, if the person arrives at hospital drunk or with alcohol residual in his blood, that’s another story. Why does the state have to pay for such irresponsible behavior? I believe that the precautions like that can help to control some of our patients.

Belarus has one paradoxical example: life expectancy among men is 64 years, while life expectancy of those men who have diabetes is 67 years! Why so? – Because when they got to know they are seriously ill they came to their senses: they give up smoking, stop using alcohol, take on jogging and exercise, lose weight – all in all, start living a full life! If we sum up the statistics for three years, we’ll see how much money this situation saves for the state.

Reference:

The draft amending the law “On public health” provides for:

- Supplying the current law with 8 Articles, 7 of which will be worded in new amendment. Altogether, the amendments will touch upon more than 35 Articles.

- Special public interest is caused by novelties in the Article on the induced abortion, as well as on the refunds of expenses on medical aid to citizens who damaged their health in a state of alcoholic or/and drug intoxication.

- The draft secures new types of medical aid – medical and social, high-technology and palliative.

- The amendments to the Article on medical secrecy. According to the law developers, if objectified, the information about patient’s health can be called for by the investigating agencies and the insurance supervisors.