EEF to Address Demographic Challenges of the Far East and Arctic

The conference ‘Creating a Healthy Society in the Far East and Arctic’ will include the panel discussion ‘Demographic Challenges in the Far East and Arctic’. The event will take place on 5 September, on the opening day of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) as part of the plan of events of Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021–2023. The session is being organized by the Roscongress Foundation’s Healthy Life project.

The event will be attended by: Viktor Fisenko, Russian First Deputy Minister of Health; Olga Kobyakova, Director of the Russian Research Institute  of Health of the Russian Ministry of Health; Yulia Morozova, Deputy Chairwoman of the Government of the Kamchatka Territory; Lidia Mikheyeva, Secretary of the Russian Public Chamber and Chairwoman of the Board of the Private Law Research Centre under the Russian President; Oksana Drapkina,Director of the National Health and Research Centre of Preventive Healthcare of the Russian Ministry of Health and Chief Independent Specialist in Therapy and General Medical Practice of the Russian Ministry of Health; Kristina Muravyeva, Expert on Business Systems Restructuring, Risk Modification, and Future Model Design, Managing Partner, and CEO of Expert. Analytics Centre, Expert Siberia and the Far East, and Expert North-West; and Evelina Zakamskaya, Editor-in-Chief of Doctor TV Channel and a TV presenter on the Russia 24 channel.

The Far Eastern Federal District is a unique region that is advantageously located in the natural transport corridor between Asia and Europe and in close proximity to the rapidly growing market of the Asia-Pacific region. It has great potential for the development of innovative infrastructure considering that it is home to the world’s largest reserves of natural resources. To this end, strengthening the human resource potential of the Far East is a strategically important task for ensuring its socioeconomic development. Meanwhile, the current demographic situation requires constructive and systematic solutions to increase people’s life expectancy and reduce the outflow of the population to other regions of Russia. Key indicators that shape the quality of life in the Far East are still far behind the Russian average. To overcome the gap in people’s living standards in the Far Eastern Federal District, the healthcare sector needs to be fundamentally developed. It is particularly important to develop a system for the treatment and prevention of non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular, oncological, and chronic respiratory diseases, as well as diabetes, which significantly contribute to mortality in Russia and around the world. 

“We face the ambitious goal of increasing life expectancy. To achieve it throughout the entire Russian Federation, when developing programmes, we must take into account the geographical features of the regions, among other things. In order to develop the healthcare system in the Far East, it is crucial to introduce modern digital technologies and utilize all the capabilities of telemedicine, which will increase the availability of medical care even in remote settlements of the macro-region,” Fisenko said.

The session participants will discuss the main goals that the healthcare system needs to achieve to increase life expectancy and the birth rate, taking into account the unique features of the region, what steps need to be taken to systematically develop primary health care in the Far East, what role digital technologies play in increasing access to healthcare, and what measures are planned to overcome the lack of medical infrastructure in remote and rural areas?

The media partners of the conference ‘Creating a Healthy Society in the Far East and Arctic’ are the Doctor TV channel, Pharmaceutical Bulletin, Medvestnik, GxP News, Russian Healthcare, Social Protection in Russia, Remedium Group, Russian Doctor Publishing House, and Expert Siberia and the Far East.

Developing human capital and improving the well-being and quality of life of the population, including improving the healthcare system and medical infrastructure in the Arctic, are among the main priorities of Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021–2023. The Roscongress Foundation is organizing the events of Russia’s chairmanship.