ABSTRACT
The Soviet Union provided universal and free health care for all its citizens. The health service had both its strengths and its weaknesses. There were a very large number of doctors per head of population (43 per 10,000), about three times as many as in Britain. However, doctors were extremely badly paid. This resulted in the profession being female-dominated and in the expectation that patients would reward doctors with ‘gifts’. There were some centres of excellence, but, in general, hospitals were poorly equipped and the primary care delivered by polyclinics was impersonal. The collapse of the Soviet Union and subsequent economic crises had a devastating effect on the health service. However, it also opened the way to a burgeoning private health sector, delivering high quality care. Inevitably, these private clinics are located in major population centres.
