Vladimir Putin on medical insurance

Vladimir Putin thinks it is important to develop the country's medical insurance system, since the bulk of the population is unable to pay large fees for medical treatment.

A good start-up capital is needed to develop the sphere, and the government is currently busy considering this, the Russian president said during a Thursday meeting with employees from the Bakulev Research Center of Cardiovascular Surgery.

The president said he hoped the government's social and economic bloc would soon solve the issue, so that it could be taken into account during the drafting of the 2003 budget. Certain aspects of the problem may actually be solved in 2002, he added.