Ensuring Primary Health Care Accessibility for the Population of Hard-to-Reach Areas of the Russian Federation as an Indicator of Improving the Comfort of Living Conditions

Introduction: Population health strongly depends on accessibility and timeliness of primary health care. It is common knowledge that access to health care services in the region of residence is related to the perceived comfort of living conditions, disease rates, and life expectancy in the population. Elimination of territorial disparities in access has been defined as a relevant area of development of the health care system for the population of remote areas. Objective: To determine the main directions for improving primary health care for the population to increase the comfort of living conditions in hard-to-reach areas of the Russian Federation. Materials and methods: We analyzed the results of providing health care services during the 86-day operation of the Saint Panteleimon mobile medical center, a railway train consisting of cars specially designed and built by the Tver Carriage Works and equipped for rendering medical services and performing instrumental and laboratory tests. Results: The train traveled along the East Siberian and Transbaikal railways in the Far Eastern and Siberian Federal Districts and stopped at 59 railway stations. The length of the routes was over 7 thousand km. Discussion: A total of 7,263 people applied for medical assistance, in whom 9,493 diseases were diagnosed during the examination; 25 % of the diseases were diagnosed for the first time in life. Cardiovascular, endocrine, musculoskeletal, and eye diseases prevailed; 2.2 % of those examined were referred to hospitals. Measures related to the operation of the railway consultative and diagnostic center help raise the healthcare system in hard-to-reach areas to a higher level. Conclusion: Health services provided by mobile consultative and diagnostic centers will significantly reduce the risk of loss of health in the population, increase life expectancy, maintain active longevity, and have a positive impact on the quality of life and comfort of living conditions in the East Siberian and Far Eastern regions. The accumulated experience can be used in other remote, sparsely populated areas.