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Intel chief praises doctors’ courage and skills enabling Russia to respond to COVID-19

A roundtable discussion is held in the House of the Russian Historical Society as part of events of the Year of Science and Technology

MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/. The knowledge, self-sacrifice, and courage of the nation’s medics have enabled Russia to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, and many other serious diseases, Chairman of the Russian Historical Society and Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin said at a roundtable discussion on the history of advanced medical technologies in Russia on Thursday.

The history of medicine is an integral part of Russia’s history, the intelligence chief stressed. Naryshkin spotlighted the domestic breakthroughs in the field of surgery, transplantology, immunology, and public health and recalled famous Russian scientists Nikolai Pirogov, Ivan Pavlov, Ilya Mechnikov, Alexander Vishnevsky, and Vladimir Demikhov.

"These great doctors performed true miracles. Several generations of our medics were schooled on these examples. Today their knowledge, self-sacrifice, and courage have enabled Russia to tackle the coronavirus infection challenges and cope with many other serious diseases," Naryshkin stressed.

The intelligence chief pointed out that the use of state-of-the-art technologies emerging from the forefront of scientific development normally requires public discussion to dispel people’s fears.

"[The Russian Empress] Catherine the Great [who reigned in 1762-1796 in Russia] was also confronted with this problem when she had to overcome the resistance of those who can now be called anti-vaxxers. In such instances, it is important to maintain a direct dialogue between doctors and the public, and make sure that people are aware of the possibilities of medicine while doctors should be ready to dispel citizens’ fears," the intelligence chief said.

A roundtable discussion is being held in the House of the Russian Historical Society as part of events of the Year of Science and Technology and is timed for the 105th birthday of the great Soviet organ transplantation pioneer and renowned surgeon Vladimir Demikhov.