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The Future Technologies Forum showcases domestic scientific progress, as well as the latest achievements and best practices in various areas. In 2024, the forum focused on progress in modern medicine, the development of new medications and innovative approaches to treating diseases.

The forum, which takes place at the World Trade Centre in Moscow on February 13–14, brought together researchers, physicians, and experts to discuss the main tasks in these and other areas.

Before the plenary session, the President, accompanied by Healthcare Minister Mikhail Murashko, visited a thematic exhibition organised on the forum’s sidelines, where he was told about innovative solutions in digital, genetic, bio- and neurotechnology, AI-assisted software, and projects in regenerative and nuclear medicine. Rosatom and Gazprombank are among the companies presenting their latest innovations.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, friends,

I am happy to welcome our Russian and foreign guests – scientists, physicians, business representatives and all participants in the Future Technologies Forum. We have created this platform to discuss promising solutions that are just being born and tested now. In some cases they are even ahead of the times, but very soon they should and certainly will dramatically change people’s lives.

Advanced developments in medicine, the topic of this forum, are among such rapidly developing areas. I would like to use this platform to share with you a holistic vision for the future of the entire domestic healthcare system. We should decide which principles and approaches we will use in planning our work and which goals we will focus on. And, naturally, we should decide – of course, with your help, colleagues – how we will create and introduce the most advanced solutions into the daily work of medical institutions.

I would like to specifically mention that a nationwide programme to fight cancer we rolled out in 2019 is clearly a priority when it comes to cooperation between the medical community, science, the state, and the regions.

More than 500 outpatient cancer care centres have been created across the country over the past five years. Recently, I had the chance to learn about the state-of-the-art oncology centres in Kaliningrad and Tula. Most importantly, the local patients, especially in Kaliningrad, which is an exclave of Russia, now have access to medical help right in their own city. High standards for diagnostics, therapeutics, and rehabilitation have been set across the country.

As a result, more than half of oncology cases are now detected at an early stage, when the prognosis is most favourable. Chemotherapy use went up by 60 percent, and radiation therapy by over 25 percent. Proton therapy has been in use since 2020. I will definitely have more to say later specifically about the achievements of Russian science, the pharmaceutical industry, and nuclear medicine.

Critically important is the fact that the significant progress we have achieved so far helped us bring down cancer mortality rates. Without a doubt, we need to do more in this crucial department and to keep on working on it. At the same time, I want our colleagues in the Government and the regions to be mindful of the fact that all these measures must be properly funded.

It is equally important to boost the effectiveness of our actions in combating cardiovascular, autoimmune, and viral diseases. By the end of the decade, we must minimise the incidence of hepatitis C, as our programme launched last year was specifically designed to do.

Furthermore, in recent years, we have made efforts to substantially improve primary care, with new outpatient clinics and district hospitals built and existing ones upgraded. Paramedic centres and outpatient clinics are opening in small towns and rural areas.

Very small communities will be serviced by mobile clinics outfitted with the necessary diagnostic equipment. Telemedicine will make high-quality healthcare readily available in small towns and rural areas, as well as in remote places.

Colleagues from the regions, people keep asking what will happen with the project on modernising primary care. If you noticed, this question was asked during the Direct Line too. The answer is obvious: we will definitely continue this work.

In the process, special attention should definitely be paid to emergency medical care when doctors have a couple of minutes to save a human life. All links in the chain of the emergency medical care system must work smoothly and without fail everywhere – in big and small cities, rural areas, and remote places.

It is necessary to completely upgrade hospital emergency rooms and fit them out with modern equipment, including intensive care equipment. Of course, it is essential to launch special programmes for upgrading the skills of medical workers of emergency rooms and ambulance teams.

Modern logistics is an important issue, especially in remote, difficult-to-access territories. Since 2019, we have been significantly restructuring air medical services. We will certainly continue doing this – manufacture and purchase new equipment (of course, these are just the first steps but the situation is still developing and we will continue doing this work). We must also build additional helipads, primarily at medical institutions and create other necessary infrastructure. We must continue expanding the reach of air medical services and increase the number of flights. Since 2019, there have been about 57,000 medical service flights.

Now it is certainly necessary to speak about personnel and I will do this with pleasure. I will tell you about the decisions adopted to raise salaries for medical professionals, above all in primary care. I discussed this issue with my colleagues in the Government late last night and this is what we have come to.

Starting in the current year of 2024, rates for providing medical care in cities and rural areas will be evened out. In other words, there will be a substantial increase in the financial support for paramedic centres, outpatient clinics and other primary care units in small residential areas. In this context, I would like to draw the attention of regional governors to the need to spend these funds primarily on salaries of medical professionals in rural areas.

Next, last year, we started making monthly bonus payments to medical professionals working in primary care. Here is what we agreed with the Government last night: starting March 1, I propose increasing the amount of these payments for healthcare professionals in small towns, district centres, and rural areas. It is essential to focus on supporting doctors specialising in the most in-demand fields of medicine, as well as district and rural district hospital workers.

Doctors working in cities with populations ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 will be paid 29,000 rubles on top of their basic wage and medium-level medical personnel will be paid an extra 13,000 rubles. Healthcare professionals working in towns and villages with populations under 50,000 will be paid significantly larger amounts, specifically, doctors will be paid an additional 50,000 rubles, and medium-level personnel will be paid 30,000 rubles monthly.

Clearly, we will need to draft the regulatory framework before we start carrying out these decisions. I want the Government to complete this work without delay so that healthcare employees start receiving their extra payments starting April 1 for March, retroactively.

There is one more decision that concerns all medical professionals. Starting April 1, the regions must increase their fixed salary by up to 50 percent while keeping bonus payments in place. We keep saying that the fixed part must be guaranteed no matter what. Bonus payments matter as well. However, healthcare professionals want the main portion of their remuneration, the salary, to be higher. In turn, the Government should draft similar decisions with regard to medical employees from federal organisations that operate as part of the compulsory health insurance system.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, friends and colleagues, for your dedicated work. I want to thank everyone, including doctors, paramedics, medium-level and junior staff of federal medical institutions, hospitals, polyclinics, outpatient clinics, paramedic centres, and ambulance crews.

You are the bedrock of our healthcare system. No matter what we say about AI (Mr Sobyanin brought me up to speed on it today, and it all looks very interesting, promising, and important), no matter what we say about robots that are truly important and are undoubtedly faithful and reliable helpers – we will talk more about how we are going to implement this technology – but they will never replace the human touch provided by medical professionals.

In the coming years, we will have to completely change the principles and approaches to operations in the healthcare system. We need to configure the entire system – from primary care to leading clinics and institutes – to protect the health of citizens. Not the number of services provided but people and their health should be at the centre of the entire healthcare system.

We need to use the full potential of advanced digital and medical technologies. This includes data-based management technologies, individual medications, new medical equipment and methods of treating diseases, tailoring vitamin and diet regimens, and so on – all this should be configured to protect and improve health, effectively treat the individual – as well as remote health monitoring technologies, which are already becoming routine, common practice.

The prevention and early diagnosis of diseases should take centre stage. To achieve this, we are constantly expanding the opportunities for regular check-ups and preventive examinations, including additional tests and studies. I can add that people can undergo such examinations during working hours, without losing pay. Last year, for example, more than 90 million people underwent check-ups and preventive examinations.

Of course, we will continue to support the desire of people to stay in shape, play sports, and lead an active lifestyle at any age. In this regard, we plan to significantly expand the programme for building sports and recreation centres in our cities and towns. Physical fitness and sports should be accessible to citizens and should not be excessively commercialised. The Ministry of Sport should take a closer look at this issue and sort things out. Everything that is done in this area under the auspices of the state and municipalities should be accessible to Russian families. This is what I want to draw your attention to.

Friends,

The topics that you are currently addressing and which you have been working on all your life, are, without a doubt, so important for the country as a whole and for each individual that it cannot be said too much. But I want to wish you success from the bottom of my heart. Both in our country and abroad, we have always done everything to ensure that this unified space of knowledge, unified space of activity, with human health in the centre, includes everyone.

We are seeing that unfortunately, there are setbacks in this system of general care for the health of people and humanity as a whole. But let this be on the conscience of those that are bringing this practice into today’s world. For our part, we are always open to cooperation. Yes, we know and see that some producers and companies, especially pharmaceutical ones, prefer not to work here any longer. They are severing ties. But we also know that interactions between colleagues and specialists still take place at the professional level. There is no doubt that it will continue developing. It is practically impossible to interfere with it. I simply have no doubt that this work will continue at the top level for the benefit of not only our citizens but also the whole of humanity, and this is no exaggeration.

I have just been shown cutting-edge inventions that are being introduced in our country. Mr Sobyanin showed me what is being done in the capital at the Moscow Radiology Centre. I will not mention all the institutions and all our companies that are working in these areas. Both Rosatom and the Kurchatov Institute are introducing their latest technologies. Strange as it may seem but even such companies as Rosneft, which are not directly involved in medicine, are also joining these efforts, and investing their available funds into the development of genetic engineering, genetics in general, and elsewhere. Many Russian companies are working to advance medicine and related science under the supervision of the Healthcare Ministry and the Government of the Russian Federation. I am sure this work will produce tangible results for our people.

I will add that we are close to developing so-called oncovaccines, or cancer vaccines, as well as a new generation of immunomodulatory drugs. I expect them to be put to effective use soon as a form of individual treatment. There are certainly many great discoveries and we are looking forward to more of them in the future.

Overall, 530 Russian medications were registered in 2023 alone. Owing to the efforts of leading scientists, physicians and experts, Russia has launched for the first time the production of many types of domestic equipment for cardiovascular surgery, intensive care, rehabilitation, and genetic disease testing.

To reiterate, we have achieved major breakthroughs, but we must keep moving forward nonetheless and continue this work on a qualitatively different level, increase our self-sufficiency, and become global leaders in key medical technologies and be prepared to take up any challenge, including threats of new pandemics. To achieve this, we must rely on a robust sovereign scientific and technological base and infrastructure that includes all substances, equipment, and components.

I have spoken about collaboration with our international colleagues. I am confident that this collaboration will continue into the future, but we must be self-sufficient in critical areas, no doubt about it. In fact, we should possess the “technological keys” for unlocking the solutions to preserving health and increasing life expectancy.

Fundamental and applied science represented by our outstanding researchers, whose names we remember from school years, such as Pavlov, Mechnikov, Vavilov, Koltsov, Engelgardt, Chumakov, and Gamaleya, provides a robust foundation for addressing these challenges. Our research institutes and applied medical research centres bear their names, maintain continuity and work at the intersection of medicine, genetics, biology, chemistry, and mathematics. They attain success in the most advanced fields such as neuroscience, biomedical technology and exoprosthetics, cell technologies, and regeneration.

Things that I was shown here today on the first floor by our colleagues are nothing short of science fiction. Not long ago, you could read about such things only in works of fantasy, whereas today they have become reality. These studies are just gathering pace but are expected to revolutionise medicine soon.

Recently, I also spoke about expanding support for domestic research, and I believe it is important to increase the amount of budgetary funds that are appropriated annually for developing innovative medical technologies and products.

We must focus on medical science and support strong institutions that combine research with practical healthcare. They should become genuine knowledge centres for the domestic healthcare and work – in the full sense of the word – to develop the technologies of the future.

In this context, I propose expanding the national network of medical research centres to boost their cooperation with other research institutes. It is also vital to upgrade, where necessary, the material and technical base of federal medical and medical research institutions that provide high-tech medical care to people all over the country, including in such areas as cardiology, cardiovascular surgery, oncology, and orthopaedics.

Finally, there is one more decision that is designed to reliably protect the intellectual rights of the leading medical centres and research institutions, which develop unique technologies. I believe that during the transfer of intellectual rights to producers, that is, commercialisation of scientific breakthroughs, research institutes should receive a decent reward in the form of so-called royalties. The amount of such payments should be based on understandable rules and uniform methodology. We discussed this when you were the first in the world to offer a COVID vaccine.

In general, we should create a modern legal framework for developing, testing and using cutting-edge technologies. Individual legal decisions have already been adopted. They concern, for instance, the use of personalised medications that were developed for a specific patient and the development of such a novel area as regenerative medicine.

This is what I would like to note in conclusion. New discoveries in medicine, methods of preventing and treating diseases, new medications and equipment are not valuable in and of themselves. They are called upon to protect the health of our people and be accessible to them. Primary care centres should be making wide use of them. It is also important to consider how the challenges we are facing go beyond narrow departmental interests. They require the participation of experts from different areas of science as well as economic and industrial spheres, such as, for instance, chemistry and microelectronics.

The consolidated work of regional ministries and departments, public companies and, of course, the active involvement of businesses in these common efforts is of fundamental importance. I have just described how businesses get involved in research in different areas. It is necessary to continue this.

This is why we work in the format of national projects when it comes to key technological areas. The mechanisms involved make it possible to build an entire technological chain – from laying the necessary groundwork and developing applied solutions, to creating the means of production and training highly qualified personnel.

In this context, I think it is possible to suggest the following. I ask the Government to develop and launch another national project by the end of this year that would ensure technological sovereignty in developing advanced healthcare technologies. It is critical to identify the sources for funding this project and the amount of funds required for its implementation.

I am counting on the participation of our medical and scientific communities in this large and serious undertaking.

Thank you very much for your attention.

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Vladimir Putin: Summing up is not an easy task, since everything is so specialised. You sit there, trying not to say something wrong. And here you are talking about summing up. It is a challenge.

I can say for sure, though, that every area of research that was discussed here, and all others that have not, but in one way or another concern the health and life expectancy of our people, will by all means remain at the centre of the Government's attention. This is absolutely clear and is one of the top priorities of the state, any state.

Here is what I would like to point out. Seeing Moscow becoming a better place to live makes us happy. A lot is being done in this department. Moscow is a profit centre for many businesses. The Government is there to distribute this profit evenly across the country, so that as many of our people as possible can benefit from our achievements. This is crucially important. That is why I spent so much time discussing primary care today. We will certainly keep a close eye on these matters.

Without a doubt, fundamental science cannot exist without applied science and vice versa. Clearly, research centres and innovations need support, and we will certainly be there to provide it and to support every area that was discussed today and even the ones that were not, but are of immense importance and value to us.

We scrutinise everything that is happening in our country and internationally. Of course, there are many unresolved issues and challenges. But things are relative. Considering the achievements of your colleagues in foreign countries, medical services in some countries, for example, overseas, are quite expensive. The service is good, and its level is high, but a person may die at the doorstep of a medical institution there, because they will not take a patient in if they have no health insurance. We are aware of that and it is something that happened in real life. Most importantly, nothing of that kind should ever happen in our country.

Many things are the legacy from the Soviet times. I mentioned earlier the names of our outstanding researchers and doctors. Without a doubt, we must build on these moral and ethical principles of taking good care of the patient. Our work should focus on providing good service to people.

We will by all means keep holding such events annually. Next year, we will focus on innovative materials and chemistry, which is in one way or another related to the subjects that our colleagues discussed today, and you discussed during the panels. So, continuity will definitely be there.

With regard to the specific proposal to hold a research paper contest in the field of medicine, we will do it, no questions asked.

Thank you very much. All the best.