Chernyavskiy V, Mikhailova J. Russia: A key partner in the Northern Dimension Partnership 

(Editorial). SEEJPH 2019, posted: 10 May 2019. DOI 10.4119/UNIBI/SEEJPH-2019-217 

 

 

 

 

Page 1 of 5 
 

 EDITORIAL 

 

 

Russia: A key partner in the Northern Dimension Partnership 
 

 

Valery Chernyavskiy1, Julia Mikhailova1 
 

1Federal Research Institute for Health Organization and Informatics of the Russian Ministry 

of Health, Moscow, Russian Federation. 

 

 

 

 

Corresponding author: Dr. Valery Chernyavskiy PhD, MPH, Dr.h.c., Deputy Head of the 

Unit for coordination of the Northern Dimension Partnership of Public Health and Social 

Well-being (NDPHS),Federal Research Institute for Health Organization and Informatics of 

the Russian Ministry of Health; 

Address: 11, Dobrolubova Str. Moscow, 127254, Russian Federation;  

E-mail: vch@mednet.ru. 

 

 

 

 

 

  



 

Chernyavskiy V, Mikhailova J. Russia: A key partner in the Northern Dimension Partnership 

(Editorial). SEEJPH 2019, posted: 10 May 2019. DOI 10.4119/UNIBI/SEEJPH-2019-217 

 

 

 

 

Page 2 of 5 
 

Nearly thirty years after the breakdown of 

the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1991, the 

countries of the former USSR that 

emerged from it still face a multitude of 

challenges including the need to reorganise 

the health services, their structure, 

budgeting, staffing, and quality. 

The Soviet system, despite its many and 

profound flaws, represented also very real 

achievements (1-3). It provided a basis for 

community health activities including 

mandatory immunization and periodic 

health checks and it fostered a generation 

committed to solidarity in the provision of 

health care aiming at universal coverage 

and equitable access. 

Despite the enormous challenges facing 

the country today, the belief in a health 

system centred on need rather than the 

ability to pay remains intact. However, the 

Russian Federation - by far the biggest 

successor state of the former USSR - 

carries most of the advantages as well as 

disadvantages of the Soviet past (4). 

Today, we observe a growing awareness of 

the necessity to increase the efficiency of 

the health system and a real desire to 

enhance user satisfaction in Russia. 

These concerns coupled with recognition 

of the need to address issues of 

sustainability have prompted a major 

reform of the health system centred on 

appropriate financing mechanisms: 

funding which previously came from 

general taxation has shifted in part to a 

social insurance system and it is this shift 

which provides the fundament for the 

health reform process of the Russian 

Federation (5,6). 

Two additional problems add to the need 

for change:  

 There is a major impact of 
environmental pollution on the health of 

the population, to a considerable degree 

caused by the historical break-down of 

central regulation and enforcement of 

health and safety standards in the 

nineties which allowed the industry to 

produce without regard to air and water 

pollution. 

 Equally worrying is the unhealthy 
behaviour of Russian citizens especially 

with regard to the high alcohol and 

cigarette consumption and poor 

nutritional status, i.e. high levels of 

energy intake from fat instead of 

vegetables and fruits (7). The subsequent 

deterioration of major health indicators 

foresees a long-term rise of morbidity 

and mortality of the present generations 

and correspondingly a very high burden 

of disease to be tackled by the health 

system. 

Therefore, today, one of the key areas of 

work of the Ministry of Health of the 

Russian Federation is to strengthen the 

cooperation with experts from other 

countries in order to set up channels for 

exchange of knowledge and experience 

between health professionals, politicians 

and decision-makers (8). 

The Northern Dimension Partnership on 

Public Health and Social Well-being 

(NDPHS) as a cooperative effort of ten 

governments (Estonia, Finland, Iceland, 

Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, 

Poland, Russian Federation and Sweden), 

the European Commission and eight 

international organisations was formally 

established at a ministerial-level meeting 

on 27 October, 2003. Since then, the 

Northern Dimension is steadily on track to 

reduce the Preventable Years of Life Lost 

in their respective populations and the 

difference between the member countries 

with reference to the Sustainable 

Development Goals 2030 and the 

European Union Strategy for the Baltic 

Sea Region 2020. 

From the very beginning, the Russian 

Federation has been actively involved in 

the cooperative work of the NDPHS. 

Summing up the contributions of the 

Russian Federation from 2003 until 2018, 



 

Chernyavskiy V, Mikhailova J. Russia: A key partner in the Northern Dimension Partnership 

(Editorial). SEEJPH 2019, posted: 10 May 2019. DOI 10.4119/UNIBI/SEEJPH-2019-217 

 

 

 

 

Page 3 of 5 
 

the following three periods can be 

differentiated (9). 

 

i.The period from 2003 to 2009 

This was the period of foundation of the 

Partnership, the searching for its purpose 

and place in the international, as well as 

regional agenda of public health and social 

well-being. At the various international 

platforms, Russia actively participated in 

discussions about the feasibility, goals, 

status, and mission of the new 

international network for regional 

cooperation at the Northern Dimension 

area. 

 

ii.The period from 2010 to 2014 

During this period, the general goal of the 

Partnership was determined, the first 

Strategy was adopted (but, still, without an 

Action Plan), and objectives were defined. 

In accordance with the general goal of the 

Partnership, two priority areas were 

identified:  

- To reduce the spread of major 
communicable diseases and to prevent life-

style related non-communicable diseases; 

- To enhance peoples’ levels of social 
well-being and to promote socially 

rewarding lifestyles. 

To implement actions in these directions, 

terms of reference were developed and 

four Expert Groups were created, in which 

international experts from the ten partner 

countries including Russia worked 

together. This period allowed the partner 

countries to outline common problems in 

health and to define mechanisms of 

interaction and cooperation. 

During 2010-2011, the Partnership worked 

under the chairmanship of the Russian 

Federation. In this period, activities related 

to new challenges in the health of all 

partner countries were integrated: 

population aging, issues of prevention and 

control of non-communicable diseases - 

including cardiovascular diseases and 

tumours as the main causes of mortality, 

the growth of resistance of 

microorganisms to antibacterial drugs, the 

increasing relevance of primary health care 

as an accessible, comprehensive, and high-

quality, component of the health sector. 

During this period, a NDPHS Secretariat 

with legal capacity was established, which 

is currently located in Stockholm, Sweden. 

 

iii.The period from 2015 to 2018 

A new NDPHS Strategy 2020 was 

developed and, corresponding to its 

objectives, an Action Plan was adopted, as 

well as terms of reference and tasks of the 

meanwhile six Expert Groups were 

established. The new NDPHS mission was 

formulated as an innovative regional 

cooperation network, making a significant 

contribution to improving the health and 

social well-being of the population in the 

Northern Dimension area. The current 

NDPHS Strategy 2020 is defined as a 

guiding tool to assist the partner countries 

and organizations in their joint efforts to 

achieve improvements in selected priority 

areas and to strengthen the recognition of 

health and social well-being on the 

political agenda in the Northern 

Dimension area and the Russian 

Federation, as well as ensuring greater 

stakeholder commitment to include aspects 

of health and quality of life in the process 

of developing national policies. 

It is important to note the increasing 

relevance of the political components 

during this most recent period: 

- Inclusion of the North-West Federal 
District of the Russian Federation into the 

zone of activity and responsibility of the 

Russian Federation in the NDPHS (until 

2014 only the region of Kaliningrad 

participated in NDPHS activities). To 

determine the current problems in the 

health and healthcare of the North-West 

Federal District, the Federal Research 

Institute of Health Organization and 



 

Chernyavskiy V, Mikhailova J. Russia: A key partner in the Northern Dimension Partnership 

(Editorial). SEEJPH 2019, posted: 10 May 2019. DOI 10.4119/UNIBI/SEEJPH-2019-217 

 

 

 

 

Page 4 of 5 
 

Informatics of the Ministry of Health of 

the Russian Federation carried out 

extensive work on assessing the health of 

the population and the capacity of the 

health care organization in the region. 

- The new policy of the Northern 
Dimension placed a strong emphasis on 

cooperation between the European Union 

and Russia with full participation of 

Iceland and Norway in matters relating to 

the Northern Dimension region. 

 

The Russian Federation has been actively 

involved in the NDPHS from the 

beginning (that is 15 years ago) in all areas 

of the Partnership. It should be emphasized 

that Russian experts are actively 

promoting many aspects of health and 

health care presented and discussed in the 

expert groups and transfer the insights 

gained into the national strategic 

documents for further development of the 

health system in Russia. 

NDPHS now is at the stage of preparation 

the new Strategy 2025 based on the 

national priorities of the partners. In 

parallel, the President of Russia signed the 

Decree “On the national goals and 

strategic objectives of the development of 

the Russian Federation for the period up 

to 2024”. Based on the analysis of global 

and national trends and conditions in the 

years to come, the new policy indicates the 

trajectory of economic, social, and 

technological break-through, sustainable 

growth of well-being and competitiveness 

of individuals and the society as a whole 

on social and economic development. 

At this historical turning point, it is 

expected that the European Union will 

likewise renew its Strategy for the Baltic 

Sea Region (EU-SBSR) including a re-

evaluation of the financial investment in 

order to combine all efforts in the region 

efficiently. The complex but steady 

progress during 15 years shows that 

international cooperation at expert level 

may be slow but in the long run can 

become effective. The well-resourced 

northern and western countries and the 

European Union should realise their 

strategic interest in the unique platform of 

the Northern Dimension Partnership on 

Public Health and Social Well-being. 

 

Conflicts of interest: None.  

 

References 

1. Tchernyavskii V. Research on Public 
Health   in transitional Russia. 

Understanding and Orientating National 

Health Systems. Proceedings of the 3rd 

FICOSSER General Conference 

Helsinki, 1995; p. 271-8. 

2. Public Health in Russia. International 
Handbook of Public Health. Editors: 

Klaus Hurrelmann, Ulrich Laaser. 

Greenwood Press, Westport, 

Connecticut, USA, 1996; p. 297-315. 

3. Lessof S, Chernyavskiy V. Health Care 
Systems in Transition: Russian 

Federation. WHO, Regional Office for 

Europe, Copenhagen; 1998. 

4. Tchernyvskii V. Health and Health Care 
in the Russian Federation. In: “The cost 

of reform: The Social Aspect of 

Transitional Economies” (Editors: Jones 

JF, Kumssa A). Nova Science 

Publishers, Inc., Huntington. New York, 

2000; p. 89-101. 

5. Problems of Russian mortality, its 
consequences and priorities for actions 

(Editors: Starodubov VI, Mikhailova 

Yu V, Ivanova AE). Moscow, 2006. 

6. The health of the population of Russia 
in the social context of the 90s: 

Problems and prospects (Editors: 

Starodubov VI, Mikhailova YV, Ivanov 

AE). Moscow, 2003. 



 

Chernyavskiy V, Mikhailova J. Russia: A key partner in the Northern Dimension Partnership 

(Editorial). SEEJPH 2019, posted: 10 May 2019. DOI 10.4119/UNIBI/SEEJPH-2019-217 

 

 

 

 

Page 5 of 5 
 

7. Stanley J. Tillinghast, Valery E. 
Tchernjavskii. Building health 

promotion into health care reform in 

Russia. Journal of Public Health 

Medicine vol.16, No 4, December 1996; 

p. 473-7. 

8. Chernyavskiy V. Modern approaches in 
the implementation of international 

projects for the prevention and 

treatment of socially significant 

diseases (HIV, tuberculosis and 

malaria). Materials of the 8th Russian 

Forum with international participation: 

“Children’s health: prevention and 

treatment of socially significant 

diseases”. St. Petersburg, 2014; p. 271-

6. 

9. Mikhailova YV, Andreeva OM, 
Chernyavskiy V. Work of the Russian 

Federation within NDPHS in 2003-

2018; May 2019. 

______________________________________________________________________________________ 

 

© 2019 Chernyavskiy et al; This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons 

Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, 

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.