"Disintegration is one of the reasons why the Russian pharmaceutical industry lags behind. We must consolidate. The industry needs integrated structures linking research and development with manufacture. These would of course make use of market instruments."
"It is taking Russian manufacturers too long to switch to GMP and other international standards, without which the Russian pharmaceutical industry will never become an equal competitor in the world."
"We should provide for the greatest possible number of medicines to be manufactured in Russia-in particular, through licensed production and generics."
"There is a third challenge-preventing the sale of counterfeit medicines and medicines that have already expired. These medicines threaten people's health and even lives, and our efforts to combat them should not subside."
"The tasks that the state and the pharmaceutical companies face are clear. First, the policy for the state to purchase medicines needs to be overhauled to introduce clear-cut, transparent market rules to eliminate the possibility of loopholes and abuses, which allow sidestepping the terms of a public auction. When public auctions are aboveboard, prices fall significantly."
"Russian-manufactured medicines purchased using government money must make up no less than a half of the total supply, in terms of value, within the next two or three years. We should shift to long-term contracts with Russian manufacturers to supply medicines to government, municipal and corporate hospitals and clinics, as well as to medical centres affiliated with the Academy of Medical Sciences."
"Guaranteed purchases of medicine is one of the principal financial approaches for implementing state strategy in this field. In particular, government and other centralised companies must make such purchases, whose amount is quite sufficient in our country, approaching 230 billion roubles a year. However, Russian manufacturers have no permanent, or at least long-term, access to the market-suffice to say that federal programmes account for fewer than 10% of the volume of all Russian-made medicines sold."
“In the budget for 2010, we have maintained or even increased spending on basic medical programmes, meaning the national project ‘Health,’ provision of free medicines for persons entitled to benefits and maternity certificate payments. Grants-in-aid to the regions for compulsory medical insurance will also not be reduced."
"Over the last five years the average life span in this country has increased by three years, to reach almost 68 years. Let me be frank - we still have much to do in order to match the European standards in this area, but we know that this is an achievable goal. This means that standards of living are changing, and that the substantial investment made in healthcare, physical fitness and the construction of sports facilities over the last few years is paying off."
"I would also like to draw your attention to the birth rate, which has been on the rise since 2005. A very pleasant change has taken place. Last August, birth rates exceeded death rates for the first time in the last 15 years. This has just been registered by the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development, and confirmed by Gosstat (Federal Statistics Agency). For the first time in 15 years, we had a natural population increase."