Lukashenko: best foreign practices need to be applied in Belarus
It is important to adopt and implement the best foreign practices in various fields of activity in Belarus – as noted by President Aleksandr Lukashenko during his today’s meeting focusing on the prospects for development of the country’s healthcare system and postgraduate professional training of medical specialists, BelTA reports
"Science and practice are now very interdependent, everything is internationalised – in all spheres, including in the healthcare. The best foreign practices should be brought here," the Belarusian leader said, citing the Chinese experience as an example: there, a small number of specialists are sent abroad to study and adopt foreign experience and, upon return, they implement it at home. "Wherever they see any progress, they send their people there. Students are taught in our country and then take all the Belarusian experience out, and there – under the leadership of the Communist Party – everything is studied to decide what element to take [as a model]. This is how we should work," Aleksandr Lukashenko figuratively explained. “We should adopt Western models and the Western level where we are interested in (we say Western, but today we can learn something from the East as well) and bring them here. This will be the greatest training. [We should] also select people for this."
At the same time, the President warned against blind copying of foreign samples. According to him, it is necessary to introduce foreign experience taking into account national specifics and established practice, and not to break a long-present and stable working system, “We do not need it, we have our own successful experience. Otherwise, it will happen like in education: the Bologna process was played with.” The Head of State then warned that there was no need to rush to join the Bologna process, although many insisted on this, and today it is clear that there was no urgent need for Belarus to do this. "Well, we continue working, and the flow for education in our country has not decreased,” the Belarusian leader noted. “Therefore, in no case should anything be copied. We need to rely on our own systems, if we understand and if we have recognised that they are normal for us, for our state. We should not break them."
"Any innovations should be carefully thought out and not create any risks," Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.
Speaking of postgraduate training of doctors and a draft decree on the issue, the President noted, “If you prove to me today that it is impossible to live without it, then we will make this decision. However, I would like to repeat: you should understand what situation we are in (the situation is not simple, and it is not known what we will face), so that we – understanding the situation in which we live – would not plunge into a whirl which is absolutely not natural for us and which we do not need.”
According to the Head of State, special attention should be paid to how the introduction of a new form of postgraduate training of medical specialists will affect the healthcare system as a whole, as well as certain hospitals, especially in the hinterlands. "How will this affect the branch’s human resources? What prevents this modernisation from being carried out within the framework of the existing system of clinical residency? Won't we lose the best achievements of the national school of medical workers’ training in this pursuit of other people's patterns?" Aleksandr Lukashenko outlined the key issues for discussion of the draft decree.
During the meeting, the President was also reported on the healthcare system development in the current conditions, on the Government’s activity related to import substitution and provision of medical institutions, on the work of hospitals, availability of components for high-tech equipment, and on supplies of medicines.
