A project presented at SPIEF 2022 by the University’s Pirogov Clinic enables orphaned children to receive high-tech medical care
Vladimir Zavarukhin, Head of the Paediatric Traumatology Department of the University’s Clinic, have spoken about the charitable project "Star Country", initiated by the doctors of the Pirogov Clinic of High Medical Technologies at St Petersburg University.
The Star Country project is a medical and social initiative aiming to help orphaned children with congenital or acquired deformities to receive high-quality medical care. According to statistics, three babies out of a hundred are born with a congenital anomaly. Congenital anomalies seriously impede socialisation of children and negatively affect their quality of life. Unfortunately, medical assistance in such cases is often delayed or never provided to children deprived of parental care, whilst for children with such deformities, it is particularly difficult to find a loving adoptive family.
Doctors from the Pirogov Clinic of High Medical Technologies at St Petersburg University, together with the project partners, help children from orphanages to receive medical consultations and treatments, including surgical treatment performed by the best doctors in the country, and if necessary — the follow-up rehabilitation. Orphanage administrators from any region of the Russian Federation are invited to submit an application for participation in the Star Country Project. Each child’s medical history will be considered by a board of health care experts. Then, a suitable healthcare institution, where the young patient will be able to receive the necessary specialised medical assistance, will be chosen.
The real stars here are our doctors and volunteers. They come to the aid of children in need, who — like the Little Prince from the novella of the same name — often have no one to ask for help. We want these children to receive high quality medical treatment delivered with warmth and care. We want to give them light and hope for a future full of wonderful opportunities, friends and family.
Vladimir Zavarukhin, Head of the Paediatric Traumatology Department of the Pirogov Clinic of High Medical Technologies at St Petersburg University
Two more doctors from the University’s Clinic participate in the project: Dr Viktor Vilenskii, traumatologist-orthopaedist, and Elena Belonogova, paediatrician and paediatric neurologist. Dr Belonogova is a co-founder and medical coordinator of the project. The two project leaders are: Sofia Mustafina, Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan; and Damir Galiev, Director for Innovation at AK Bars Bank (Kazan, Tatarstan).
The scaling-up of the project will enable the optimisation of the budget for surgeries and will significantly expand medical internship and professional exchange opportunities for medical specialists. This will also facilitate the implementation of national projects.
In 2020, the initiative of providing medical patronage to orphaned children became the winner of the Powerful Ideas for the New Times competition organised by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives and the Roscongress Foundation. At the same time, the surgeons from the Pirogov Clinic of High Medical Technologies at St Petersburg University performed the first surgeries on children from orphanages in the pilot region — the Republic of Tatarstan. In 2022, the Expert Council of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives approved the results of support for six social projects, including the Star Country Project; and the decision to scale up the project was made.