Russia is trying to rebrand itself as a resurgent superpower. But its health care system is frighteningly bad—and getting worse
IT WAS LATE at night when Hanna Rún, a 26-year-old ballroom dancing champion from Iceland, woke up with searing chest pains in Penza, a city some 400 miles southeast of Moscow. Alarmed by her worsening condition, her Russian in-laws did what anyone else would do— they called an ambulance. Rún would soon wish they hadn’t. After an ambulance ride down potholed roads, Rún was placed in a hospital ward with moldy walls, filthy sheets and screaming nurses who crudely administered an intravenous drip. In the corridors, patients sat or lay on grimy floors.
But it was the hospital’s restrooms that shocked her most. “The floor was soaking wet and muddy, and the toilet was jammed full of urine and feces,” she wrote in a blog post, since deleted, about what she called her “nightmare” in Penza. Holding her sweater over her nose to keep out the stench, Rún tried not to touch anything in the restroom: “The sink was full of blood,” she wrote.
After doctors suggested carrying out an operation to “make sure” her internal organs were “working properly,” Rún decided to leave. It later turned out she had been suffering from heartburn. Rún declined to discuss her hospital stay with Newsweek, but Icelandic and Russian media widely reported the story. “A foreign woman in a Russian hell” was how Ilya Varlamov, a well known Moscow-based blogger, described the dancer’s experience.
Others saw it differently. “It’s possible it was difficult for her to adapt after hospitals in Iceland,” said Dmitry Zinovev, the head doctor at the Penza hospital. He suggested the much-discussed blog post was a deliberate attempt to discredit Russian medical facilities.
This story is from the December 2,2016 edition of Newsweek.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 2,2016 edition of Newsweek.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
'I Don't Live My Life With the Cameras On'
Canada's first lady Sophie Grégoire Trudeau talks working through trauma, relationships in the public eye and her new book exploring mental health
We're Struggling to Afford Our Furry Friends
The cost of caring for our four-legged companions has risen for nearly threequarters of Americans, leaving many owners concerned about financially supporting them
A Life of Crime: America's Migrant-Smuggling Teens
Money-motivated children as young as 14 are being targeted by cartels on social media to traffic people illegally into the US and it's just the start of their criminal journey
'I am always in the moment'
India's prime minister on his goals, his critics and his 'god-gifted' ability to listen
JAPAN'S CALL TO ARMS
As the 'peace-loving nation' doubles its defense spending, Prime Minister FUMIO KISHIDA explains why it needs to take an assertive stance to counter China and North Korea
The States Keeping Their Children Hungry
The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer could help feed millions of children in households experiencing food insecurity, yet 13 states have declined to participate in the program
Fertility Clinics 2024
FOR THOSE LOOKING TO EXPAN D THEIR FAMILIES, FERTILITY CLINICS CAN BE A VITAL OPTION
Who Rules Gaza When the Fighting Stops?
With no clear leader coming to the fore, questions remain about how the devastated territory will be managed
Gillian Anderson
IF THERE'S ONE THING THAT'S TRUE ABOUT GILLIAN ANDERSON, IT'S THAT she isn't afraid of a challenge.
Alex Edelman
A JEW ACCIDENTALLY STUMBLES UPON A gathering of white nationalists. For most, this would be a cause for concern, but for Alex Edelman it's an opportunity for a hit one-man comedy show.