Thinking in the old way and trying to live in the new

Abstract

Professor Viatcheslav Alexeev offers freelance journalist Sarah Powell his views of the state of the Russian national health system and the challenges faced as Russia moves from a socialist to a capitalist economy. Viatcheslav Alexeev is Professor of International Health and Management at the Department of International Health of the Russian Medical Academy of Advanced Medical Studies in Moscow. His wide-ranging experience includes teaching management and health administration, health manpower development, and interpersonal relationships at the Central Institute for Advanced Medical Studies. Following this, for over 20 years he was Assistant Professor and Director of the WHO International Courses for Health Administrators. From 1981 to 1987, he worked on the staff of the Health Manpower Development Division of the WHO in Geneva, in which capacity he gained extensive experience of training, research and organization in over 30 countries.