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Patients, Doctors Lament Russia's Deteriorating Hospitals

Jamie Dettmer

   MOSCOW - The three Moscow mothers whose children are suffering from
   cancer were united in two things, their reluctance to allow their names
   to be published, and their mounting anger at the deterioration in
   Russia's public health services, which they say threatens their
   children's lives.

   They had wanted to attend a midweek press conference to demonstrate
   their support for a team of pediatric oncologists who have quit their
   jobs at a Moscow clinic, one of Russia's best cancer hospitals, to
   protest overcrowded wards, pay cuts and an "optimization reform"
   doctors say is affecting their ability to treat patients.

   However, guards at the Blokhin Cancer Research Center warned the
   mothers to stay away. The mothers say they fear the consequences of
   speaking out.

   A dozen doctors so far have quit their jobs at the clinic -- the latest
   in a wave of resignations by medical staff sweeping Russia's health
   sector. The oncologists quit after posting a three-minute video on
   YouTube deploring overcrowded wards and reduced funding. They
   complained that the construction of new buildings had dragged on for
   two decades, and they painted a grim picture of a health care center
   falling into disrepair amid mismanagement.

   "For years, children with cancer have been treated in terrible
   conditions. There's no ventilation, mold is eating through the walls,
   and the wards are overcrowded with sick patients," the doctors say in
   the video. Cutbacks in services have meant some families are being
   turned away.

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