We only make doctors work in health camps by appealing to their patriotism, says Andrei Kondratiev. Part 2

The chief concern is a lack of qualified chaperones. In 2012-2013, over 1,400 chaperones were trained within a programme called Children of Tatarstan, formed according to all the modern requirements. The number is, however, as little as 10 percent of the total number of teaching staff engaged in the local children’s recreation and health improvement system, 10,656 teachers being needed, to provide adequate service. The lack of staff was mostly accounted for by a lack of financing, said A. Kondratiev. About 25 percent of the available teaching staff annually refuse to do the work.

“Because of the great responsibility for children and small payment we lose best educators, who get more attractive offers,” he noted.

Problems were found in ensuring medical help for children and teenagers as well, he went on to report. In 2013 the local Health Ministry did all it could, staffing the health camps with 516 doctors and 1,837 nurses.

“An acute lack of medical personnel is felt. The health ministry did, of course, take some measures and all the camps were staffed. But a document needs to be a adopted for the future, to regulate doctors’ work in camps, since the existing sums do not allow paying them as much as they are paid at medical institutions. We only make them work by appealing to their sense of patriotism. This needs to be laid down in a legal act, so that they could work throughout the summer season without disturbances,” Kondratiev enhanced.