Russia Last Among 31 Developed Countries in Per Capita State Support for Healthcare, Accounting Chamber Reports

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Nov. 16 – The Russian government spends roughly 23,000 rubles (330 US dollars) per capita per year on the healthcare of its citizens, a figure that places it last among 31 developed countries and one that means the burden on the population to take care of its medical needs are concerned is greater there than in any of the others, the Accounting Chamber says.

            Because this is the direct result of Vladimir Putin’s absurdly misnamed “healthcare optimization program,” something that has cut back spending on medical facilities so that he will have more money for repression at home and aggression abroad, it is remarkable that the Chamber, a government body, is reporting these figures (finanz.ru/novosti/aktsii/rossiya-zanyala-poslednee-mesto-po-raskhodam-na-zdravookhranenie-sredi-krupnykh-ekonomik-mira-1030981250).

            They are especially explosive because their publication comes as Russia is suffering from the effects of the fourth wave of the pandemic and as Putin is spending ever more money on the security forces to maintain his domestic control and the military to threaten neighboring countries like Ukraine.

            And while the Auditing Chamber doesn’t stress this in its report, it is increasingly obvious that Putin’s pursuit of power and glory is causing more Russians to suffer and die from illnesses that Russia’s previously more adequate system might have been able to prevent (ach.gov.ru/upload/iblock/432/wjvi2beix796z4vpn04vyii4ppk4fxcr.pdf).