Vladimir Putin’s speech:

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I’m very pleased and flattered to be speaking before such a professional and broad audience – leading specialists from more than 160 countries who work in a field as essential as healthcare.

We are glad that you selected Moscow as the venue for the First Global Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Noncommunicable Disease Control. Hosting such a high-profile forum on this important issue is a great honour for us. We see this as support for our country’s actions on the protection of public health, and, in a sense, as Russia’s contribution to resolving global health issues.

Diseases of the heart, the circulatory system, the respiratory system, as well as cancer and diabetes pose the main threat to human health. You know that these diseases account for more than 60% of all deaths. According to your predictions, this figure may grow to 75% by 2030. In the meantime, the experience of many countries, including ours, shows that it is possible to counter this threat effectively if we act in a systemic and goal-directed manner, bringing together the abilities and commitments of the state, society, and the business community.

Public health has always been a major priority for Russia. We continue to develop the traditions established by our distinguished predecessors, such as Sergei Botkin and others, in promoting preventive care and healthy lifestyles.

We have steadily increased the funding for healthcare, even during the global financial crisis. For instance, in 2009, when the world and Russian economies were struggling, we launched a new large-scale programme to promote healthy lifestyles. This was the first programme of its kind for our country. Under the national priority project on healthcare, we launched a broad health awareness campaign and opened more than 500 health centres for adults, and over 200 for children and teenagers. I understand that many of you have already had an opportunity to see them in action.

Needless to say, we are doing our best to improve the quality of treatment for cardiovascular and oncologic diseases and after road traffic accidents. We have noticed positive changes in these areas, and there has been a reduction in the death rate from traffic accidents by a substantial 26%. We are carrying out programmes to develop obstetrics, paying special attention to the early disease detection.

Speaking at the national forum of medical workers quite recently, I quoted the figures that we have achieved by implementing the national priority healthcare project: in just five to six years – since 2005 – the life expectancy in Russia has increased by almost four years. Regrettably, we still have a much lower figure than our neighbours in Europe, but the progress is still clear. A four-year increase over the past few years is not bad at any rate. Over the same period, the death rate has decreased by more than 11%. The death rate from circulatory diseases and cancer has also started to go down.

It goes without saying that we still have a long way to go, but we have already made some progress from the measures we took, from the investment we made. We will continue on this road and invest almost 500 billion roubles into the national Health project in the next three years.

In addition, we are launching healthcare modernisation programmes in the regions. During the next two years we will allocate another 460 billion roubles from the federal budget for this purpose. This figure amounts to an additional $16 billion. We will use these funds to put in order more than 8,000 outpatient clinics and hospitals across the country. To give you an idea of the scale, this accounts for 40% of Russia’s medical institutions. We are planning to buy over 100,000 pieces of modern medical equipment.

Needless to say, one of the main goals of these programmes is to lower the incidence of diseases and the mortality rate, also from non-communicable diseases, through more effective diagnosing and using modern treatment techniques and equipment.

All that we are doing for national healthcare is only a part of a larger effort to preserve the nation’s health. We are also promoting and developing popular sports and physical fitness: building stadiums and fitness centres, broadly promoting healthy lifestyles as part of the preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, the 2013 World Student Games in Kazan and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. And of course we are working to control smoking and alcohol abuse.

I must add that we are also tightening environmental standards and requirements on working conditions, and we are trying to control and monitor the quality of food products on the market. This is indeed a large, complex task involving our ministries, departments, NGOs and charities.

I think it is absolutely wrong to believe that social programmes should be sacrificed for the sake of faster economic growth. The economy should indeed come first. Social problems can only be resolved in a strong and growing economy. But it is wrong to put one ahead of the other or to say one is important and the other is not. This is the wrong attitude because it drives us off course.

One more point I would like to make is that global cooperation is the only way of effectively dealing with non-communicable diseases. It is important that we build an integrated international system which could coordinate the work of the international medical community – scientists, public associations and state agencies of course. In this respect, Russia plans to intensify the development of cooperation centres with the WHO, to introduce high technology in healthcare. For that, we will be tapping the potential of Russia’s largest state corporations. The development of medical technology is one of the priorities of their innovation programmes.

We have also approved a special programme for the development of the pharmaceutical and medical industries and will invest an additional 120 billion roubles in federal money. That will amount to around $5-6.5 billion.

In conclusion, I would like to say that, you all know how important the 1978 international conference in Alma Ata was. The declaration adopted there laid the foundation for the modern system of primary healthcare.

Next September, a high-level conference on non-communicable diseases will take place as part of the UN General Assembly. We have just discussed that.

I strongly hope that the Moscow conference will produce decisions which will help reduce the incidence and mortality of non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Ultimately, the importance of healthy lifestyles and the need to combine efforts to fight non-communicable diseases should become the defining items on the global agenda aimed at meeting the 2015 Millennium Development Goals that world leaders adopted in 2000. The professional community, governments and organisations all over the world still have time before 2015. Good luck to you all. Thank you very much.

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Vladimir Putin’s closing remarks:

Thank you very much for your attention to Russia and thank you once again for holding this meeting here. I don’t know any other activity or profession nobler than that of a doctor. You do not help all of humanity or a large number of people, as the government often does. Instead, you help a particular person. This is what doctors do and there is nothing nobler in the world.

As far as I understand, in ancient times shamans provided the main – to put it in modern terms – healthcare services. I have never seen such a large number of highly qualified shamans in one place before. I’m glad to see you all in Moscow.

We face many complicated challenges. Ms Chan (Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organisation) mentioned that the cheapest food is usually the least healthy food. How can we reverse this situation? How can we make the cheapest food the healthiest one? This is difficult given the problems the global economy is facing, including the food market. This is a complicated task and it requires our concerted effort.

There’s a reason I mentioned businesses here. Businesses have a huge role to play here. Usually, global companies working in global markets are rather large and successful. So, achieving optimal results will require a combination of many things, including good personal qualities and the appropriate management of resources.

But one thing we can do for sure is promote healthy life-styles. It is inexpensive and yields enormous results. I’m referring to fighting smoking, alcohol and drug abuse and many other things.

Ms Chan mentioned that I played ice hockey. It’s more accurate to say that I’m learning how to play. Anyway, this was a call for change, an attempt to show that each of us can change much in his or her life and that there are no goals that cannot be achieved.

As for demonstrating a few exercises, I am willing to do this but not in ice hockey – I’m still a rookie in hockey. But we can invite you, Ms Chan and everyone present here, to the figure skating championship being held in Moscow. It is quite a sight. 

Thank you once again for your efforts in this field you’ve dedicated your life to. I am sure you’ve heard many words of gratitude from your patients, and I can imagine how important that is. Unfortunately, members of the government and heads of ministries and government bodies – and there are many present here today – don’t enjoy this pleasure because the government and ministers are usually criticised. That’s probably how it should be. But a professional doctor is always a healer, a helper, a rescuer. This is a special state of mind. Medicine is a part of each person’s life one  way or another, and they all hope you can help them. It is my wish that you always live up to these hopes. Thank you very much for your attention.