Primary Health Care – History, Stages, Modernization
Authors:   Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia, Yakovleva T.V. ,   Federal Medical Biophysical Agency, Moscow, Russia, Plutnitsky A.N. ,   Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia,   A.I. Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center, Moscow, Russia, Ogneva E.Yu. ,   Russian research Institute of Health, Moscow, Russia,   A.I. Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center, Moscow, Russia, Karimova D.Yu. ,   A.I. Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center, Moscow, Russia, Averchenko R.R. ,   A.I. Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center, Moscow, Russia
Published: July 2022

Annotation: The article provides an overview of the main guidance documents and literature sources on the process of providing primary health care to residents of the Russian Federation. The historical background of the formation of the processes providing primary care is given, revealing the interdependence of measures in the field of healthcare reform, the introduction of new norms and rules for the provision of services to the population within the framework of primary health care. Primary health care is the foundation of the entire process of providing medical care, which includes measures for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment of diseases and conditions, medical rehabilitation, monitoring the course of pregnancy, the formation of a healthy lifestyle and sanitary and hygienic education of the population. It is the position and condition of the primary health care system that largely determine the health indicators of the nation, the level of satisfaction of the population and, as a result, reflect the results of the functioning of the medical industry as a whole. Along with a significant contribution to the health of each person, the primary link, as a rule, is the place of “first contact” with the healthcare system, forming the opinion of our citizens about the industry as a whole and the possibility of exercising their constitutional rights to receive medical care. A strong primary link prolongs a “healthy” life, reduces mortality, and forms people’s commitment to a healthy lifestyle. On the basis of the historically established situation of primary health care in Russia (changes in the structure of demographic indicators, economic and social conditions), a line of problematic and urgent issues in the provision of medical care in the structure of primary health care is traced — depreciation of fixed assets of polyclinic and hospital buildings, dilapidated or, often, the lack of necessary medical equipment; lack of motor transport in district hospitals, including paramedic-obstetric centers and outpatient clinics providing medical care to the rural population; the problem of staffing and wages of employees of medical organizations that do not meet demand. As a result of the above, there is a need to find new systemic approaches to addressing issues of accessibility and improving the quality of primary health care, the development of new organizational and functional models of primary care, which as a result should lead to an increase in life expectancy and the achievement of national goals.