According to a number of Russian media, the fight against cancer at the state level has stopped in the country. The disease is not cured. It just so happened that this particular front sector has run out of resources. According to the Russian Ministry of Health, in the five years since the launch of the National cancer program, cancer mortality fell by only 1 percent despite the 47 billion rubles spent on the fight against this disease from 2009 to 2014 (35 billion rubles came from the federal budget and 12.6 billion rubles from regional budgets). These funds were mostly spent on expensive imported medical equipment. It then became clear that there was simply no one to operate this equipment since apparently, the idea of training health professionals came too late, and consequently, the problems began accumulating.
The press service of the Russian Ministry of Health later tried to explain (rather inarticulately) that reports about the end of the national cancer program were false. It is worth recalling that in 2008, there were plans to spend only 28 billion rubles on the program that was supposed to be completed in three years. Furthermore, cancer mortality was expected to decrease by 4 percent, and early disease detection was supposed to improve.
In early 2012, representatives of the Russian Ministry of Health tried to sum up the results of the program and complained that, according to specialists, 28.6 percent of cancer patients died within a year of diagnosis. Thus, they virtually blamed patients for “seeking help only when cancer reaches extensive stage 3 or 4.” At the same time it is worth noting that officials probably embellished the reality by announcing that in 2010-2011 cancer death rates dropped by 2.5 percent. The main contradiction consists not only in numbers but also in the point of view. Thus, officials believe the program to be successfully completed whereas, according to medical experts, only local issues were solved which does not really affect the system level of combating cancer. It is too early to measure the effect of the new equipment on cancer mortality rates because in some regions this equipment is not yet operated at full capacity and in others it is not even brought into operation. According to professionals, the purchased medical equipment is intended for diagnostic and only covers part of the treatment. However, without a systemic treatment funding this is nothing but window dressing. It is worth recalling that in 2012 several local officials were convicted under the so-called “MRI scanners’ case.” A scandal broke out under then-President Dmitri Medvedev, to whom we owe the following historical statement that reflects the actual state of affairs not only in the medical sphere: “This is an absolutely cynical, impudent theft of state funds.”.
While law enforcement bodies report victories over corrupt officials, Russia’s health care is losing the battle against cancer by a score of 1-0. You can judge for yourself. The national cancer program ran for five years instead of three and used 19 billion rubles more than planned, while cancer mortality dropped by only 1 percent instead of expected 4. It seems that for the Russian Ministry of Health and government bodies close to it, participating is more important than winning.
