There are no pediatric oncologists in 27 Russian regions

As Deputy Minister of Health Tatiana Semyonova said during a presentation for the XXIII Congress of Pediatricians, residents of many regions need to go to a neighboring region for medical care for children.

She said that there are 348 specialists in the healthcare system of the Russian Federation. And although their number increased by 35.3% compared to 2014, the situation remains tense.

"It is clear that this medical care ... is provided in neighboring regions or federal institutions. But nevertheless, this situation does not move from year to year and remains tense today", - TASS quotes the words of Tatyana Semyonova.

She pointed out that in three regions - the Magadan region, the Jewish Autonomous Okrug and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug - there is practically not a single pediatric cardiologist.

"We face the question that adult cardiologists and pediatricians should have this related competence in order not to miss the specifics of childhood heart diseases. There are features of genetics", - said Semenova.

Meanwhile, in Russia, the number of oncological diseases in children is steadily growing.

Over the past few years, oncology in underage patients has begun to be detected more often, for example, in 2019, cancer was found in 27,896 children, while in 2014 - in 21,217.