Sverdlovsk Region will have a "Heart Town"

26.08.2013 — Analysis

and a "cardiology web".

Health professionals floated an incredibly ambitious idea – to reduce cardiovascular mortality in the Sverdlovsk Region to 600 people per 100 thousand residents. The life expectancy of the Sverdlovsk population is planned to increase to the age of 75.

The region seems to have everything to implement the idea – doctors, state-of-the-art equipment, cutting-edge technologies, financial resources. However, all these may not be enough: we tend to neglect our own health. The famous writer Anton Chekhov who was a doctor by profession noted that Russian people are amazing in their careless attitude towards their life. Very little has changed so far.

Dilyara Medvedskaya, Deputy Health Minister of the Sverdlovsk Region, has informed RusBusinessNews that the Middle Urals still ranks among the regions having high cardiovascular mortality rates among the population. 54% (60 thousand) of the people who died in 2012 had suffered from cardiovascular diseases. "For example, in the countries of Europe this rate is 3-3.5 times as low," she said.

The factors causing heart and vascular diseases are world-old. They are smoking, excessive weight, poor diet, lack of physical exercises, stress, excessive alcohol intake, skipping regular health examination and unwillingness to go to the doctor. "The main measure in the cardiovascular disease control is promotion of a healthy lifestyle. Every person must be aware of its importance and make their informed choice," Medvedskaya points out.

Doctors toll an alarm bell, seeing heart diseases rapidly grow younger. "The social disadaptation results in the loads that vessels are not able withstand. The dramatically increased frequency of stroke in young adults is a global problem. On average, 3 thousand people suffer brain damage annually, though the statistics methods are not always impeccable and our record files miss quite a few people," Mikhail Arkhipov, the principal external cardiologist of Ekaterinburg, said. According to him, hypertension has become noticeably "younger". Children eat chips and drink cola, sit in front of computers all day long and do not do sports. The consequences come to hand or rather hit the heart.

"As for treatment of acute coronary syndrome and acute cerebrovascular accident as well as the new methods used in treatment of cerebrovascular diseases, they are efficiently used in the Sverdlovsk Region. Unfortunately, the problem is not limited to the treatment process. First of all, preventive measures must be taken. Otherwise, the only option we have is to fight against the disease in its acute form, using advanced technology," M. Arkhipov notes.

Health professionals do not forget about high-tech aid to people suffering from heart diseases. "Our task is to make it more available to patients," Dilyara Medvedskaya points out. "Therefore, in the locations where the first aid is provided by paramedics, there are telecardiometry systems, due to which professionals from regional and inter-municipal centers, high-category cardiologists can consult medical specialists locally."

The round-the-clock consulting and dispatching center was opened to decrease the stroke death rates; the center was organized by Sverdlovsk Regional Clinical Hospital No. 1; the groups of patients coming from the municipalities for CT-based evaluation were formed. The number of administered and completed thrombolyses increased 3.8 times (the thrombolysis is the process of breaking up and dissolving blood clots). The number of cases involving endovascular and open surgery to treat problems affecting the blood vessels in the brain has tripled. More than 6.3 thousand patients have cardiovascular surgery in the region annually.

"The implemented measures made it possible to decrease the acute cerebrovascular accident caused death rate from 14.8 to 14.6%. The mortality rates from acute myocardial infarction decreased from 16.4 in 2008 to 14.2% in 2012," the Deputy Minister says.

However, it is not the limit. Health professional will gain support from the "Heart Town". The cardio center that has no rival in Russia will be opened in Ekaterinburg in 5 years. The conclusive decision on the launching of the large-scale project was adopted on July 31, 2013 at the meeting of the governor of the Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev with the staff of the Ural Institute of Cardiology.

The "Heart Town" is important for the region. I do understand that the institute team must be confident about their future and I gave the task to sign the contract with Yan Gabinsky for five years. It is the task given to your team: to build the "Heart Town" during five years," the governor said.

According to Yan Gabinsky, the estimated investment in the project amounts to 3 billion rubles. The construction of the center is scheduled for 2014-2018 through the public and private partnership.

The core of the complex will be the center of the emergency cardiology care; the center will be operated by the Ural Institute of Cardiology. In addition, the complex will have a rehabilitation cardiology and diagnosis center, a research and education center, a medical hotel of the check-up type and a helicopter pad.

The timeframe given to the management of the Ural Institute of Cardiology and specialists of the regional Ministry of Health for the finalizing of the "Heart Town" project is one year. The presentation of the project is scheduled for 2014.

A few words should be said about the "cardiology web". The opening of the telecardiometry stations was the first step in implementation of this project. By using the latest equipment, medical professionals can have an online access to cardiograms of the patients from remote areas in the Middle Urals, can make a diagnosis and, when required, make decisions on their hospitalization. Over six months, the professionals working at the telecardiometry station of the Ural Institute of Cardiology have examined about 4 thousand cardiograms. As a result, almost 1 thousand patients were diagnosed with potential acute coronary syndrome; hospitalization was administered to 700 people. Under the "cardiology web" project, helicopter pads are being built in remote areas of the Sverdlovsk Region.

"The "Heart Town", "cardiology web", mobile preventive health care centers, cardio health schools as well as health food stores and whole foods stores, promotion of healthy lifestyles and the people’s awareness will help to achieve the main result – to reduce cardiovascular mortality," Yan Gabinsky states.

The weak link in the plans is human resources. The shortage of professionals is the main problem of Russian health care system. The situation with the personnel at the Ural Institute of Cardiology is stable, but the municipalities of the Sverdlovsk Region are in deep water.

According to Veronika Skvortsova, the RF Health Minister, the problem of health care human resources will be solved through a set of measures approved by the RF government. Each constituent entity of the Russian Federation has the program aimed at stage-by-stage elimination of the shortage. The program includes differentiated measures aimed at social support of medical professionals. "The main component in the increasing human resources in specific regions and institutions is the target contract-based training of health care professionals. This year this training accounted for 40% of the total number of the applicants to medical education institutions," the minister said at the meeting of the Presidium of the State Council on July 30.

It is obvious that the problem of shortage of the medical personnel cannot be solved without raising salaries paid to doctors and nurses. According to the data of the Federal State Statistics Service, over Q1 2013, the average salary of doctors increased to 34.5 thousand rubles; the average salary paid to paramedical staff increased to 20.3 thousand rubles, while the salary paid on average to medical attendants increased to 11.8 thousand rubles. The results of the first half of the year should that the positive trend continued. If the upward trend does not change, the problem of the Russian medical personnel shortage will be partially solved in 5 years.

Anna KHORKOVA