The organization “Alliance of Doctors” sent a letter to the FSB of Russia, stating that doctors critically lack personal protective equipment.
In a letter to the head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, the Doctors’ Alliance claims that the situation with personal protective equipment in the country is critical and that in some regions doctors and nurses do not even have enough masks.
“The mass infection of medical personnel may lead to a scenario where COVID-19 unfolds in Russia worse than in Italy,” the letter states. It is alleged that chief physicians and regional governors do not inform federal authorities about the lack of personal protective equipment for fear of dismissal.
“In connection with this, the Operational Headquarters for the Prevention and Spread of Coronavirus in the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation do not recognize the degree of criticality of the situation and do not take necessary measures to provide doctors with personal protective equipment,” the appeal states. The Health Ministry did not return calls from the BBC. The head of the department, Mikhail Murashko, declined to comment.
Russian doctors complained last week about a lack of PPE. According to some of them, the management of the medical institutions where they work is urging them to buy masks themselves or, if they can’t find any, to sew them. Denis Manturov, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, previously acknowledged the shortage of protective suits in hospitals.
In the “Doctor’s Alliance,” they called on the FSB to urgently distribute personal protective equipment to the least equipped regions, ensure its strategic supply, and “help stop the pressure on doctors who honestly declare a lack of personal protective equipment.” According to the organization’s statement, such doctors are “beaten, summoned to the prosecutor’s office and threatened with criminal proceedings.
Perhaps it is an incident involving the head of the Alliance of Doctors, Anastasia Vasilyeva. In early April, she was detained in the Novgorod region, where she was delivering personal protective equipment for local doctors. As she was being detained, she was punched in the solar plexus, according to human rights defender Dinar Idrisov. “Anastasia lost consciousness, possibly suffocated by one of the plainclothes officers,” the organization tweeted after the arrest. On Vasilevskaya Street two administrative protocols were drawn up under the article on disobedience to the lawful demands of police officers and fined for 1600 rubles.
On Tuesday, April 14, the Alliance of Doctors announced that Health Minister Mikhail Murashko had allegedly written a statement to the police asking them to investigate Vasilyeva’s video about the lack of protective equipment for doctors. The message appeared on the “Alliance of Doctors” Twitter account, with a copy of the summons attached, stating that the investigation was being conducted on the basis of Murashko’s statement. However, the tweet was later deleted.
The collection of personal protective equipment for Russian hospitals by the Doctors’ Alliance began at the end of March. When the organization announced the fundraising campaign, Vasilyeva was summoned to the Investigative Committee, which opened a case against her for spreading false information about the coronavirus situation.
“The Alliance of Doctors” was organized in April 2018. It is one of the unions cooperating with the opposition politician Alexei Navalny. The head of “The Alliance of Doctors,” ophthalmologist Anastasia Vasilyeva, treated Navalny after he was splashed with green dye, which caused an eye burn.