The main expert of the restorative and resort medicine of the Russian public health’s and social development’s ministry, Honored Worker of science of the Russian Federation, The academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, The director of the Russian Scientific Centre for Restorative and Resort Medicine

Alexander RAZUMOV

The intensification of the prophylactic direction of medicine by upgrading of the system of restorative and resort medicine has become an important stage of reformation of public healthcare, improvement of demographic situation in the country and growth of nation’s health potential (Address of V.V. Putin, President of Russia to the Federal Assembly).

The need of formation of restorative medicine as an independent prophylactic direction in Russia has come up on the background of low level of population health and a demographic crisis combined with the progressing lack of funds for providing the needful scope and high quality of medical assistance to a big flow of ill and disabled persons. Absence of realization of prophylactic medicine priority in the past has played its negative role, concentration of the existing economic, social, medical institutions of healthcare control on treatment of ill and rehabilitation of disabled persons to the detriment of prevention of the diseases among still healthy people as well as absence of uniform structure of health rendering, prophylactic medical organizations and the system of education of the specialists in this sphere.

The sanatorium system of Russia is regional and is presented by resorts Krasnodar, Stavropol Territory, Republic Bashkortostan, the Caucasian mineral waters, a resort zone of Northwest, Urals Mountains, Siberia, the Far East and Kamchatka.

We face the necessity of the building a system of prophylactic by implementation of highly effective medical and economic testing technologies and medicament-free methods to increase the functional reserves of the human organism weakened by ill-factors of today’s environment and hard working condition’s, or as a result of a disease and during a convalescence period. We have created a new direction, we are working out also a system of health rendering and rehabilitation assistance to the people which includes the various forms beginning from a self healthcare practices to a special medical rehabilitation. A unique place in the above system belongs to medical resorts which are specialized on rendering healthcare and rehabilitation services based on natural curative factors.

For a long time the resort medicine and physiotherapy have been studying the positive action of various physical and climatic factors on the human organism which preserve and recover health as well as cure certain diseases.

The big research work proving the extremely high prophylactic and economic efficacy of health rendering and rehabilitation aid has helped substantially to intensify the development of resorts, restorative and health centers within the framework of Wellness industry. This is a new landmark in the civilized approach to understanding of the human health in general and a step further towards creating a scientific fundament for utilization of various natural and physical factors helpful to protection of man’s health and improvement of his well-being.

However up to this moment there is no any uniform system of legal and technologies’ basis, requirements for the equipment, personnel structure and educational programmers for the specialists. At the same time we have a successful experience of running health and rehabilitation centers both in Russia and other countries. This proves the necessity of integration of the streams of healthy persons who need a qualified restoration of functional reserves using the technologies of restorative medicine and ill persons for whom a course of medical rehabilitation has been recommended.

Restorative medicine is the system of scientific knowledge and practical steps, aimed at the restoration of the functional reserves and adaptive human capabilities weakened by the ill-factors of today’s environment and bad working conditions or as a result of a disease. It uses preferably medicament-free rehabilitation technologies.

Restorative medicine is a new prophylactic direction in science and healthcare. It’s aimed at the creation of the system which will guarantee the progress of formation, protection and restoration of the functional reserves of organism, realization of one’s health potential in business, social and personal life of full value, impeding gerontological changes, premature mortality, sick and disablement rates, increase of average life-span and improvement of demographic situation in the country.

The main objectives of restorative medicine are:

- Working out of the theory and organizational and systematic principles, oriented on the formation of protection of health of a healthy person, diseases prophylactic and medical rehabilitation.
- Working out and implementation into healthcare practice of sophisticated methods of human functional reserves’ evaluation. Development of health rendering programmers and evaluation of their effectiveness.
- Analysis of individual, collective and population indexes of health reserves of the people. Determination of the normal range, development of the optimal methods, implementation of information technologies of restorative medicine in public healthcare practice.
- Working out of new promising and increasing the scope of the existing health rendering and rehabilitation measures with medicament-free techniques.
- Control and restoration of the human functional reserves during working activities. Development and protection of the working potential of the country, realization by a person of his creative capabilities, maintaining of the professional health and longevity.
- Forming of good habits of keeping one’s needful health reserves among the citizens. Implementation of health protection technologies aimed at strengthening of biological and spiritual components of human health, increasing the cultural level of individual and social healthcare.
- Improvement of the quality of life of chronic-invalids and disabled persons.
- Forming and realization of the government policy in the sphere of medical resorts.
- Scientific foundation of restorative medicine infrastructure including the questions of control, personnel, equipment, certification of the involved medical services, specialists’ education.
- Providing of interaction with the other healthcare institutions.
- International cooperation, including the WHO Centre for Global strategy of human health protection.
The strategically important scientific directions concerning restorative medicine were determined by the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences on October 22, 2003.
- In the field of individual passport certificate of human health reserves. Implementation of modern technologies to evaluate human organism’s reaction to stress factors.
- In the field of development of corrective technologies of restorative medicine. Development of complex individual prophylactic programmers of human organism adaptation.
- In the field of monitoring of the state of population health reserves and control over effectiveness of prophylactic programmers. Inclusion the evaluation of functional reserves section into the system of socio-hygienic monitoring.
For the progress of resort medicine in future it is necessary to improve the methods of medical resorts’ therapy.

The ways to solving this goal are:

- Analysis of medico-biological and socio-ecological problems of the formation of the system of protection and restoration of human health including medical resorts’ factors.
- Development of new technologies using medical resorts’ factors on the basis of fundamental science achievements. Implementation of complex and automated methods of evolution and correction of health reserves.
- Development of individual programs of medical resorts assistance.
- Development of short term courses of medical resorts’ health rendering and rehabilitation, recommendation for their use in practical work.
- Development of protocols of patients’ stay in medical resorts on the basis of complex of implementation of natural resorts factors and needful medicament treatment.
• Development of resource saving and sophisticated proper technologies of resort medicine.
• Scientific foundation of effectiveness of the curative and preventive measures provided at the medical resort.
There are projects of several complex programs for the development of the system of restorative and resort medicine.

1. Program «Development of resort medicine in the Russian Federation» for 2007-2011 years.
2. Program «Prevention of fight against the diseases of social character» for 2007-2012 years.
3. «Development of the system of actions to lower the risks for public health and formation of health way of life of the citizens of the Russian Federation» for 2007-2010 years.
4. «The children of Russia» for 2007-2010.
There is also the Project of the Federal Program Conception «Development of resort medicine in the Russian Federation» for 2007-2011. The main goal of this program is:

Standardization and increase of the scope of resort facilities, improvement of the medical and economical efficiency of resorts’ medical care and health rendering with implementation of modern technologies of restorative medicine. This program is based on a new approach oriented not only on the treatment of sick people but on the protection of health of a healthy man also as well as on primary and secondary preventive measures.

Developed the Federal target program «Development of resort business in the Russian Federation» on 2007 — 2011 at direct participation FEMTEC can be used by the Russian centre of science of regenerative medicine and balneology in interests of other countries — members FEMTEC. Cooperation of organizers of resort business, to scientists and experts within the limits of FEMTEC promotes development and strengthening of resort business at national and international levels.

The final adoption of all components of the development of restorative and resorts’ medicine as a new direction of practical public health care will become an important step towards formation in Russia of a completely system of control over dynamic of public health. The construction of such preventive measures needs active support from all Government and social institutions of the country. And this system may prove to be a basis for the development of our national system of healthcare.