Events

18 Dec 2025

Lukashenko orders improvement in rural healthcare amid weeks-long waits

An archive photo

MINSK, 18 December (BelTA) – All stages of medical care, from early disease detection and comprehensive treatment to rehabilitation, must be provided within reasonable timeframes, regardless of a person’s age or place of residence, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in his Address to the Belarusian People and Parliament during the second session of the 7th Belarusian People’s Congress, BelTA has learned.

The head of state noted that enormous resources are being invested in healthcare. New facilities are constantly opening, medical institutions are being renovated, and modern equipment is being procured.

Surgeries once performed only at national research and treatment centers or regional-level hospitals are now being conducted in inter district centers. Modern mobile paramedic and midwife units are reaching remote areas, with many of them being domestically manufactured.

“We know how to do things, and we can do them. But we do not always do,” Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked.

The president noted that working conditions for medical professionals have been improved and doctors’ salaries raised, as they had demanded. Yet access to the right specialist often remains a problem, especially in small districts and rural areas.

“We expect good harvests from our rural residents, our farmers, yet they have to wait for weeks to get a consultation or a diagnostic test,” the head of state pointed out.

At the same time, the president remarked that the country has four medical universities, which produce a sufficient number of graduates for a compact country like Belarus. “And still, there are not enough personnel, or am I wrong?” Aleksandr Lukashenko asked. He noted that Belarus has significantly more practicing doctors per 10,000 people than the European Union.

The country is addressing its staffing shortage by recruiting interns and young specialists, but they do not stay long, the president noted, asking all responsible officials whether they understand what is really happening in the sector.

Aleksandr Lukashenko has called on the government and local authorities to tackle this problem together, highlighting the role of the standing working group on healthcare.

“I reiterate: all stages of medical care, from early detection and comprehensive treatment to rehabilitation, must be completed within optimal timeframes, regardless of a person’s age or place of residence,” the head of state emphasized.

He also mentioned that senior officials recently sent a letter proposing that all diplomatic personnel be registered with the National Clinical Medical Center of the Presidential Property Management Directorate.

“Have you no conscience? Why are you all flocking to this hospital? It hasn’t been the best in the country for a long time now. We have plenty of hospitals just like it. We have a sea of hospitals just like it,” the head of state commented, noting that some apparently believe “where the president goes, things must be good there.”

The head of state added that he himself is not treated at that hospital. “God bless you, I don’t go there. Thank God, so far God has spared me from that hospital. I am not lying around there. Calm down.”

“And what about ordinary people?” Aleksandr Lukashenko added.