Model for future medicine
By Vasily Kharitonov
However much we learn about the human brain, it remains a mystery in many ways, as doctors admit. The President’s recent visit to the Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery, which has received funding of late for modernisation, highlights the important role of the facility in treating patients. Naturally, good medical provision is at the heart of buoyant demographics, with 21st century equipment helping us treat illnesses previously fatal.
Neurosurgery expert Arnold Smeyanovich stresses that professionalism, intuition, and luck are now supplemented by amazing technology. Blind touch has been replaced by images at great magnification. Monitors are able to show which areas of the brain require attention and, in fact, each person’s motor, verbal and visual centres are uniquely arranged, making the removal of tumours a great challenge.
It was previously unthinkable to conduct brain surgery without opening the skull but small probes can now enter through the thigh, giving a clear, three-dimensional image accurate not just to the millimetre but to microns.
The President listened keenly to the progress made at the Centre, watching a tumour removal operation through the window of an airtight door. Surgery is recorded via a powerful microscope, allowing films to be used for training purposes. The President is eager to see more young specialists trained in this sphere and, of course, for Belarusian facilities to remain at the cutting edge of technology. He emphasises that proper training for professionals is essential to ensure that machinery is operated effectively and stresses that state support for similar centres will continue. “We’ve invested huge sums countrywide at such centres. Nearly 150,000 people from 70 countries have been treated in Belarus, which speaks for itself. We need to keep moving forward, building on our existing expertise and facilities, to promote science. We’ll be training specialists, to create a professional, efficient, powerful, high-tech school, staffed by experts.” The President would like to see every professional employee train at least three more professionals to their own level, in the sphere of medicine and other scientific areas.
Regarding salaries for those in healthcare and education, the President sees considerable potential for raising wages, with those engaged in the most skilled tasks rewarded accordingly. He is hopeful that medical services can be used to generate export revenue without Belarusian citizens suffering. Since neurosurgeons are in demand worldwide, it is a sphere worth developing to maximum capacity. New operating rooms could be built to raise capacity and revenue, with funds generated becoming a financial incentive for physicians. The model can be applied to all spheres of medicine.