Experts will discuss the government’s strategy and practices for combatting diabetes as part of the ‘Healthcare in Russia 2021’ business programme, which will take place on 1 December 2021 at the Rossiya Segodnya International Multimedia Press Centre. ‘Healthcare in Russia 2021’ is being organized by the Roscongress Foundation and the Health Protection Committee of the Russian State Duma.

Once the ‘Diabetes Mellitus’ federal target programme ended in 2012, Russia found itself among the countries with the highest number of patients with diabetes around the world. At present, the number of patients with diabetes has more than doubled.

“Our country is implementing a number of federal projects that are part of the National Healthcare Project. However, such a massive chronic disease as diabetes mellitus ended up being outside the scope of the national project. Today, our country ranks fifth in the world in terms of the number of patients with diabetes mellitus in the age range of 20 to 79. In addition, it is particularly concerning that, in the midst of COVID-19, the mortality rate among patients with diabetes has increased by 22%. The Business Russia expert platform is working on proposals to create a new federal project called ‘Combatting Diabetes Mellitus’, whose goal is to reduce mortality and disability among patients with diabetes. Meanwhile, the implementation of regional pilot projects for drug provision will demonstrate the high efficiency of innovative drug therapy,” said Anton Danilov-Danilyan, co-chairman of the Business Russia All-Russia Public Organization and co-chairman of the Working Group on the Development of the ‘Combatting Diabetes Mellitus’ Federal Project.

The fight against diabetes should be wide-ranging and encompass all areas of activity: it should ensure that systemic medical care from outpatient to inpatient care is monitored and accessible; bolster human resource potential; support innovative smart drug technologies at all stages from development to immersion in the public healthcare system; engage in systematic work to eliminate risk factors, such as actively identifying risk groups, altering lifestyle patterns, and creating a culture where people take care of their health.

During the session ‘Combatting Diabetes: Government Strategy and Practice’, experts will discuss what measures Russia is taking today to reduce the burden caused by diabetes, how these measures are contributing to achieving national goals, what challenges the system of medical care and drug provision for patients with diabetes faces today and how it can be improved, what state support measures will help improve patients’ access to innovative methods of diabetes therapy as well as whether the federal programme to combat diabetes will solve this problem and how it will do so.

The business programme partner of the event is Boehringer Ingelheim.

The event will be broadcast on the website of the Roscongress Foundation’s Healthy Life project: forumhealth.ru.