–
The mobilization of students against the coronavirus in Russia is carried out under threats from the authorities – “those who do not go, will not have their certificate and are at risk of being expelled” – denounces Svetlana, a sixth-year medical student in Moscow.
Given the number of infections – almost 200,000 cases identified on Saturday – the Russian health system, weakened by the lack of personnel, the years of budget cuts and controversial reforms, is under pressure despite the deployment of almost 100,000 additional beds throughout the country .
On April 27, the Ministries of Health and Education issued a decree ordering fourth, fifth and sixth year medical students to carry out “practical training” in hospitals that treat covid-19 patients from 1 of May.
Only those with “medical contraindications” are exempt.
Shortage
According to various testimonies collected by the AFP, such as that of Svetlana, some students affirm that they are threatened with exclusion if they refuse. They ask to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.
They are also concerned about the lack of personal protective equipment in hospitals. Authorities have acknowledged that there is hardship, but downplay the scope.
Alexandra, a fourth year of medicine at Setchenov University, is blunt: if “doctors lack the means of protection, I very much doubt that there is enough for us.”
She also says that they are not going to relocate her and she does not want to risk “infecting her parents” who live with her. Without protection or experience, “we will not help and spread the infection.”
Elena, in her second year in Setchenov and therefore exempt from the mobilization, affirms that some colleagues have received threats.
“If you don’t accept, you won’t have a diploma or specialization,” they were told, according to her.
In an anonymous appeal published on social media, students from Pirogov University asked Rector Sergey Lukianov to establish volunteering as a principle.
Neither this university nor the health department of the Moscow city council have responded to requests from the AFP for any reaction.
The vice-rector of Setchenov University, Tatiana Litvinova, contacted by the AFP, affirms that working in an area that treats the covid-19 is not obligatory, nor will anyone who does not be penalized.
“If a student does not want to do it, they can continue their training at another center. No one is forcing it, ”says Litvinova, contradicting the text of the decree, which in its establishment affects 1,000 students.
It also promises that students who are in contact with patients in Moscow will be paid up to 100,000 rubles (about 1,240 euros, about $ 1,340) and will have “means of individual protection.”
Ivan Konovalov of the Alliance of Doctors, a union close to Alexei Navalni, the main leader of the opposition to the Kremlin, explains that the authorities are mobilizing the students due to a chronic lack of personnel.
“The reforms of recent years in the health sector have caused doctors to leave en masse,” he recalls.
Even institutions close to the Kremlin, such as the Court of Auditors, have recognized that the “optimization” of the sector, a government euphemism for defining the reforms of the last ten years, has left medicine helpless in the face of the epidemic.
“Without experience”
The situation worsens, with many professionals infected and in general more than 10,000 cases of contagion daily for a week.
The authorities do not publish statistics. According to an unofficial count by doctors, hundreds of them have been infected and at least 100 have died.
Konovalov believes that the mobilization of students will not solve the problem: “Even the seniors have no experience working in these conditions.”
In this context, the students have launched a petition online asking for the annulment of the decree. Another group organized a protest on Instagram against “forced labor”.
Some people don’t understand these initiatives. »Why did you choose this job? For Save lives! If a war starts, will they also hide under the skirts of their mothers? ”Protests Marina Goncharova on VKontakte, the Russian Facebook, writing on a page dedicated to student protests.
–
