Over 80 healthcare facilities are to be reconstructed in the Vitebsk region in 2012.
14/01/20120 views
On January 14, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Over 80 healthcare facilities will be reconstructed and modernised in the Vitebsk region in 2012. This was announced today at a working meeting with heads of medical institutions and construction organisations by Yuri Derkach, Head of the Healthcare Department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, BELTA correspondent reports.
Before compiling the list of facilities to be reconstructed, the region conducted an analysis to determine the structure of healthcare: the distribution of medical care among regions was based on population size and migration flows. Promising plans for the development of high-tech medical care were decisive. The design and estimate documentation for the reconstruction and construction of medical facilities, including the Vitebsk Regional Hospital, the Regional Infectious Diseases Hospital, the Regional Oncology Dispensary, the central district hospitals in Miory and Sharkovshchina, the central children's polyclinic in Vitebsk, and the maternity hospital in Polotsk, is ready. Funding amounting to Br300 billion will be provided from additional funds of the regional and local budgets.
As Yuri Derkach noted, these funds were raised thanks to the effective performance of industry, the agro-industrial sector, and the medical professionals themselves. The healthcare sector's income from extra-budgetary activities in the region increased from Br29 billion in 2009 to Br90.2 billion in 2011, which is approximately 10% of the total budget allocations for healthcare provided last year.
The Regional Executive Committee has set a serious task for builders, local authorities, and medical professionals – to complete the work no later than the third quarter of the current year.
In a conversation with a BELTA correspondent, Yury Derkach noted that carrying out such large-scale work in the region's healthcare sector will contribute to the fulfilment of tasks defined by national and regional demographic security programmes. In 2010 and 2011 alone, Br43 billion and Br77 billion respectively were allocated for the reconstruction and modernisation of healthcare facilities. These investments, coupled with the professionalism of medical staff, have helped reduce the mortality rate from 16.7 per 1,000 population in 2010 to 16.1 per 1,000 in 2011. The average life expectancy in the region increased from 69.8 years to 70.2 over the year. In 2012, according to forecasts, the mortality rate in the region may be 15.4 per 1,000 population, and life expectancy will increase to 71.5 years. Another indicator of the effectiveness of healthcare investments is the absence of infant mortality in the region for the last three years.
Speaking about the tight deadlines for construction and renovation work, Yury Derkach emphasised that this is due to the fact that the facilities will be equipped with expensive high-tech equipment, which must be put into operation as quickly as possible. The primary goal of all work is to minimise costs. For example, the reconstruction of the Semashko Hospital in Orsha will allow for the consolidation of the institution's buildings, which are currently scattered across different parts of the city, into a single complex. Through the centralisation of the hospital alone, the invested funds will be recouped within three and a half years.
The consolidated regional budget for 2012 plans to allocate Br1.8 trillion for healthcare needs. Taking into account additional investments, this amount will exceed Br2 trillion.-0-
BELTA