Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia and a presidential candidate in the upcoming March 2024 elections, addressed a gathering of his proxies during a meeting. During his conversation with them, he also touched upon the topic of health care. He noted that achieving technological sovereignty is one of the most important tasks in this area.
“This is, first, our own production of heavy medical equipment.” Putin noted that Russia previously purchased 100% of such equipment abroad. Now, it is not only the import substitution programs that make it impossible, but also the reluctance of many foreign manufacturing companies to service, repair, and test the products they supply to Russian medical institutions. “Of course, in the field of healthcare this is one of the most important areas. And here personnel is of paramount importance,” noted the current head of state.