Addressing the conference, Alexander Zhukov said that cancer treatment and prevention efforts aimed at lowering the high cancer mortality rate would be the next phase of the priority national project Health. "We have so far failed to achieve positive trends in this sphere," the deputy prime minister said. "Consequently, we are launching a special cancer treatment and prevention project as part of the priority national project Health. This will be one of the most important elements of the national project," Zhukov said.
The deputy prime minister said the project would require substantial funding to purchase special equipment, among other things. However, the government considers this spending to be absolutely necessary, Zhukov said.
He said the government has seen tangible results from the priority national project Health, which is still the main tool for improving quality and access to medical services. "I believe demographic statistics provide an objective look at the results of this national project. Between 2005 and 2009, the birth rate has increased by over 6%, the mortality rate has gone down by 12%, and the infant mortality rate has dropped by almost 20%," Zhukov said.
Speaking on education, the deputy prime minister said the government has developed additional measures aimed at improving staff performance and increasing innovation at higher education institutions. "I can say now that we plan to allocate 40 billion roubles for this," Zhukov said, adding that the funding will be largely used to expand scientific research at universities. "This is a very significant package," Zhukov said. He also reminded the audience that total spending to expand national research universities has reached 10 billion roubles. The government has set aside another 12 billion roubles for expanding the federal universities programme.
Zhukov told journalists on the sidelines of the conference that the government was considering expanding the ways in which maternity capital is used, and that an announcement on this can be expected in the next 30 to 60 days. "Practice shows that such opportunities for individuals should be liberalised somewhat," Zhukov said, adding that various ways to achieve this were under discussion.
Zhukov said part of the allocations - at least those linked with the indexation of maternity capital - would be provided in cash.