Barriers to Combat the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Healthcare System of Russia and Its Regions

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has strained both global and national health systems, inevitably causing gaps in health care delivery. Disorganization during a pandemic becomes a threat of a shortage of timely qualified assistance to the population, which is a risk factor for an increase in mortality. At the same time, the national healthcare systems of most countries of the world faced the problem of access to medical care for the population, a shortage of personnel, capacities of medical institutions, equipment and protective equipment, and a forced suspension of the provision of planned services. The purpose of the study is to identify the main challenges to the Russian healthcare system in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: Currently, in the Russian Federation, negative manifestations have become noticeable that worsen the state of health, in the first place, such as conditions and lifestyle, medical care, which could not but affect the increase in mortality. In an emergency, when the burden on the healthcare system has increased, it is worth assuming that the “contribution” of medical support to the state of health of the population at this stage exceeded the “allotted” 10–15%. The optimization of the healthcare system implemented in the country in recent years has provoked the emergence of a number of problems that have aggravated in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic: As a result of the study, the prerequisites for the emergence of difficulties in overcoming the course of the pandemic in Russia were identified: the reduction in infectious beds preceding the pandemic, the merger and optimization of medical institutions, the reduction in government spending on health care, the shortage of personnel, the increased burden on medical workers, the inequality in access to high-quality protection health in different regions, including due to geographical features.