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Russian Doctors Report Widespread Healthcare Cuts as Patients Pay for Basic Supplies
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More than three-quarters of Russian doctors reported cuts to healthcare spending in their regions, with shortages affecting salaries, medicines, supplies, and hospital budgets across the country, The Moscow Times reported on October 28.
The findings were based on a survey by Medvestnik involving medical workers from 74 Russian cities. Among respondents, 75.6% reported declining healthcare spending in their region, while 67.4% stated that cuts were affecting virtually everything, including consumables, wages, and medicines.
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Nearly half of respondents, 46%, reported that patients receiving treatment at their institutions had been forced to buy medicines, dressings, or other medical supplies themselves during 2026.
Some doctors noted that patients were formally prohibited from purchasing medicines independently, while state-funded departments still lacked enough money to cover basic needs, The Moscow Times wrote.
The cuts come as Russian regional governments struggle with budget deficits and spending linked to recruiting contract soldiers for the war against Ukraine.
According to Russia’s Accounts Chamber , regional governments allocated 5.8% less to healthcare in the first half of 2026 than during the same period a year earlier.
Healthcare spending was reduced in 42 Russian regions, with cuts exceeding 20% in 11 of them. The sharpest reductions were recorded in the Altai Republic, where spending fell 40.6%, and the Kirov region, where it declined 39%.
The Kemerovo region cut healthcare spending by 33.2%, followed by Orenburg at 32.1%, Tver at 29%, Moscow region at 28.5%, Vologda at 27.2%, and Novosibirsk at 23.4%, according to The Moscow Times.
One of the largest reductions affected Russia’s primary healthcare modernization program, which had been intended to repair aging clinics. Funding for the program fell to less than half of the previous year’s level, while actual spending during the first six months dropped more than fivefold year on year.
The Moscow Times reported that the pressure on regional budgets has already prompted calls for further hospital consolidation. On October 16, Anatoly Artamonov, chair of the Federation Council’s Budget and Financial Markets Committee, stated that regions should consider closing underused hospitals and redirecting patients to larger medical facilities.
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“Budget funds are insufficient, and we need to treat these resources carefully,” Artamonov explained.
The pressure on Russia’s regional budgets is also spreading beyond healthcare. UNITED24 Media previously reported that a district in Russia’s Irkutsk region planned to cut 37% of its administrative staff by the end of 2026 as its budget gap widened, with school guards, kindergarten staff, and municipal workers among the positions affected.
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