Chechen Ministry of Health. Minister of Health of the Chechen Republic Elkhan Suleimanov: There are many things that connect me with Azerbaijan - this is my homeland

What does it take to make a breakthrough in healthcare? Highly qualified doctors and the latest medical equipment. The first ones after two last wars in the Chechen Republic were in scanty numbers, and a competent leader was required to modernize the industry. Elkhan Suleimanov, who has been the Minister of Health of the Chechen Republic since 2016, is a Lezgin by nationality, whose childhood, student years and the "starting" stage of his medical career took place in Azerbaijan, and his professional development took place in Moscow. In Chechnya, he succeeded in the main thing - to transfer the healthcare sector from a "static" state to a dynamically developing system. Elkhan Suleymanov spoke about how he managed to do this and about the Azerbaijani component of his biography in an interview with the portal. "Moscow-Baku".

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Elkhan Abdullaevich Suleymanov has a "red" diploma from the Azerbaijan Medical University. After graduation, he worked at the National Oncology Center in Baku. He completed his postgraduate studies at the Russian Oncological Center. N.N. Blokhin, Doctor of Medical Sciences. He completed internships in the USA and Germany. Operating oncologist. In 2014, he was appointed health advisor to the Head of the Chechen Republic and chief physician of the Grozny Republican Oncological Dispensary. Since 2016 Minister of Health of the Czech Republic.

- Elkhan Abdullaevich, for a start I would like to know about your origins: about your parents, about your family, about how you came to the profession.

I was born in Azerbaijan, in the village of Yargun, Qusar region. A lot connects me with Azerbaijan - this is my homeland. There I spent my childhood, school and student years. In Azerbaijan, I have relatives, friends, fellow students at the Medical University ...

After receiving my diploma, I stayed in Baku, worked at the National Center of Oncology under the leadership of Academician Jamil Aliyev. He now heads this institution. With my first place of work, with former colleagues, I still keep in touch.

In addition, my parents live in Baku, who will not exchange their hometown for any other. My two sisters are in Moscow, my wife and three children are in Grozny, next to me.

In 1999, you, a recent graduate of the Azerbaijan Medical University, went from Baku to work in Moscow, and later trained in leading cancer centers in the USA and Germany. And suddenly a sharp turn in his career - moving to Grozny on the proposal of Ramzan Kadyrovfour years ago. Tell us more about this.

- In Moscow, I worked at the Nikolai Blokhin Russian Cancer Research Center. Patients from all over the country flocked to us, including from the Chechen Republic. In this regard, there were, let's say, separate instructions from the Head of Chechnya. Then we had a personal contact. Later, there was an invitation to work as the chief physician of the republican oncological dispensary in Chechnya, already in 2016 - to head the health sector of the Chechen Republic. So I have been working under the supervision of Ramzan Akhmatovich for four years. This is such an evolution. I always say that in 2014 I drew a lucky ticket.

- Doctors and hospitals are the most discussed areas in the Czech Republic. What difficulties did you overcome at first?

At the first stage of my stay in the republic, I worked as an adviser to the Head of the Chechen Republic on health issues and as the chief physician of the republican oncological dispensary. I can say that at that time the functioning of the oncological service had very low indicators. In 2014, oncological assistance to the population consisted of a consultative polyclinic reception, palliative and chemotherapy departments. Looking ahead, I will say that after only four years on the basis of the republican oncologic dispensary, we provide all types of medical care, including surgical. If in figures, then a year it is 3 thousand operations. Earlier, when we started, cancer patients were not operated on in the republic, they were taken out for out-of-town treatment.

At present, the scale of chemotherapy has increased many times over - patients are treated in two departments with 60 beds, and a day hospital is functioning. Radiation therapy has also been established. In general, over 300 patients are treated at the same time in our dispensary. They are provided with medical services according to all standards of medical care. This means that they have the opportunity to be treated within the walls of the republican oncological dispensary, without leaving the republic.

Overall, it took a huge effort to keep the facility functioning properly. In a matter of years, the oncological service of Chechnya has reached a level to which it takes decades for specialized medical institutions in other regions.

- Today there are patients in the republic from other regions. Can we say that the level of technical equipment of medical institutions in Chechnya is higher in comparison with neighboring republics?

- Quite right - we treat patients from Ingushetia, Dagestan, North Ossetia, Stavropol, in the oncology center - citizens of Georgia and Azerbaijan. The fact is that the level of technical equipment of medical institutions in the Chechen Republic, corresponding to high standards, significantly exceeds the provision of other republics of the North Caucasus Federal District. Even colleagues from Moscow and St. Petersburg are impressed by the equipment in our operating rooms, procedural rooms, or, say, rooms for the cultivation of chemotherapy drugs. By the way, at the end of 2018 we will receive modern radiation facilities, which are not available in all oncological services in Russia.

In the recent past, 90 percent of patients sought help from Moscow, but today the situation is different - full-fledged treatment can be obtained in the regions.

This is largely the merit of the Head of the Chechen Republic. Ramzan Kadyrov is interested in all the details, keeps the situation under personal control. And this is great!

- And yet the personnel issue remains relevant ...

Chechnya has gone through two wars and has lost a large number of qualified personnel. And today our doctors are the youngest in the Russian Federation (based on middle age). All conditions are created to improve their qualifications. In addition, we invite specialists from other cities. We have doctors from Moscow and St. Petersburg, from far abroad. Twice a week we hold videoconferences and meetings with the head institution - the Moscow Research Oncological Institute named after P.A. Herzen. We also have direct video communication with specialists from leading clinics in the country and Europe, they advise us. In addition, a number of other regions are connected to us, and we have the opportunity to outline a treatment regimen for patients whose condition, due to the peculiarities of the oncological process, requires discussion with colleagues. In fact, the treatment carried out in such cases is comparable to the medical care that patients receive in the best clinics in Moscow, where our patients previously sought to get.

In one of your interviews, you shared your plans to invite Azerbaijani specialists who work in Moscow to work in Grozny. Did this idea come true?

In Moscow, there are immigrants from Azerbaijan, with whom I studied at one time, worked at the Blokhin Oncological Center (in those years, academician Mikhail Davydov was the director there). Also, at the time of my student life, children from Chechnya studied at the Azerbaijan Medical University. There were about 20 of them. Almost all of them then returned to their homeland, work in Chechnya and constitute an important backbone of qualified specialists. For example, one of our community of AMU alumni, Adam Tokayev, is the head of a department at an oncological dispensary. Others work in various medical institutions of the republic. As you can see, if not immigrants from Azerbaijan, then graduates of the Azerbaijan Medical University work here.

- Probably, all the time is spent on fulfilling ministerial duties ... Do you have time to practice as a doctor?

My medical practice continues. There is such a concept in the West as an integrative oncologist, that is, an oncologist who develops tactics and strategies for treating a patient. I like this approach, when the patient has one leading physician who determines what and at what stage should be done by surgeons, chemotherapists, radiation therapists, etc. As a specialist in the field of integrative oncology, I work in this direction. As for the duties of the minister, they often have to be performed around the clock.

- Do you manage to choose the time to travel to Baku?

Of course, several times a year - my parents are there; besides, many other "threads" connect me with this city. And my children often rest with their grandparents. I also visit the village of Yargun, there are many of my relatives who are always very happy to see me.

Outstanding Russian historian, Islamic scholar and orientalist died

At the age of 91, an outstanding Russian and Soviet scientist, historian, orientalist, Islamic scholar, doctor of historical sciences, professor died Amri Rzaevich Shikhsaidov.

Amri Rzayevich is an outstanding specialist in the history and culture of medieval Dagestan, in the study of Islamic culture and Arabic manuscript sources. More than 350 unique scientific works belong to him.

He was a member of the Russian Association of Orientalists and the European Union of Arabists and Islamic Studies (Brussels), a member of the dissertation and academic councils of the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Dagestan Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Dissertation Council of the DSU; member of the editorial board of the London-based Central Asian Survey.

Amri Rzayevich is a descendant of legendary personalities in the history of Dagestan - the founder of Muridism in the Caucasus Sheikh Mohammed Yaragsky and the famous scientist and educator Hasan Alkadarsky.

The future scientist was born in the family of the first People's Commissar of Health of Dagestan Rza Shikhsaidov on March 20, 1928 Derbent. He graduated from the Kasumhur high school in 1945.

In 1951 he entered the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the Leningrad State University, where he studied with the largest Soviet orientalists. He studied in absentia at the graduate school of the Institute of Language, Literature and Art.

From 1951 to 1954 he worked as a history teacher at secondary school No. 5 in the city of Makhachkala. Since 1954 he has been working at the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Dagestan Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IHAE DSC RAS).

Since 1959, Chief Researcher at the Institute. From 1973 to 1999, he headed the Department of Oriental Manuscripts of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Dagestan Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Before the establishment of the Faculty of Oriental Studies at the Dagestan State University, he taught at the Faculty of History.

In 1963 he defended his Ph.D. thesis on "Islam in medieval Dagestan". In 1976 he defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Dagestan in the X-XIV centuries. Experience of socio-economic characteristics ".

Participated and headed archaeographic expeditions to the regions of Dagestan. According to the results of the research of Amri Rzayevich, about 300 collections of manuscripts were identified, numbering more than 5000 manuscript books of the XII-XX centuries.

Scientists have discovered dozens of book collections, hundreds of monuments of Arabic epigraphy, as well as documents on the history and culture of Medieval Dagestan.

Amri Shikhsaidov has the honorary titles "Honored Scientist of the Republic of Dagestan" and "Honored Worker of Science of the Russian Federation"; is a laureate of the Order of Friendship,awards of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of education, and awards of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of culture, the Order of Merit to the Republic of Dagestan.

Amri Rzayevich was the head of the Dagestan school of orientalists, who received world recognition and had indisputable authority among colleagues. He brought up several generations of major orientalists, his students are the overwhelming majority of modern Dagestan orientalists of the republic. This is an irreparable loss for the entire Dagestan science.

Since 2016 Ministry of Health of the Chechen Republic headed by our fellow countryman Elkhan Abdullaevich Suleimanov.

His track record is quite long. This includes a red diploma from the Baku Medical University, postgraduate studies in Moscow, and internships in the USA and Germany. He is an operating oncologist, doctor of medical sciences.

Presents an exclusive interview with this interesting person that we can really be proud of.

We know that you were invited to the Chechen Republic from Moscow. Do you invite doctors from Azerbaijan?

We often discussed the issue of doctors - natives of Azerbaijan - working in the Chechen Republic. At least those with whom I studied at one time. But then fate threw us into one of the leading oncological institutions in Europe - the Russian Cancer Research Center named after N.N. Blokhin. At that time, academician Davydov was the director there. We are discussing a move to Grozny with many of the guys. So far, it has not come to the point that they would move. But on the other hand, we have Chechens who studied at the Baku Medical University. There are about 20 doctors. They are good professionals in their field.

I met with the official representatives of Azerbaijan, at the level of the Ministry. The level of healthcare in our countries is about the same. Despite the fact that we live in different countries, cooperation with Moscow clinics is important for us. At least for the exchange of experience.

- Do Azerbaijanis living in Chechnya contact you?

Oh sure. I am familiar with many. But the number of requests is quite small. This is due to the fact that there are few immigrants from Azerbaijan in the republic itself. Compared to neighboring Dagestan, of course. Well, this is understandable, Dagestan is a border republic with Azerbaijan. At the beginning of my working career in the Chechen Republic, I turned to the All-Russian Azerbaijan Congress, to Mamed Aliyev. And we are talking about creating a diaspora cell in Chechnya. We were looking for Azerbaijanis, but it turned out that there were too few of them to organize a representation of the Azerbaijani diaspora. We left this question until better times.

- You have been heading the Ministry of Health for the second year already. What is the main task you have already completed?

I may be wrong, but it seems to me that our leading doctors worked, as it were, in isolation. And they had little contact with federal centers, did not cooperate with leading specialists of the federal scale. I can check the box for myself that when I took office, I was able to build bridges. We were able to build the necessary connection that saves lives. But these are specialists of completely different profiles and specialties. Initially, doctors from other cities did not want to come to our republic. But now the picture is, frankly, the opposite. When we turn to our colleagues from the capital, everyone comes. They like the conditions we have created. They like our city, our good nature. With each of their visits, they see a new Grozny. Sitting here, we can no longer notice the beauty of our city. And a newcomer immediately makes notes for himself. Hearing their positive feedback, one is filled with pride for Grozny and the entire Chechen Republic. This is an unconditional merit of the head of the republic.

- What were the priority areas that deserve special attention?

All areas are equally important. But we, first of all, paid special attention to oncology and cardiology. More precisely, the cardiovascular system. Most often, people suffer from these diseases. And they are fatal. Of course, pediatrics was important to us, and we established the well-coordinated work of the ambulance. Timely help can save lives of people.

- What are your connections with Azerbaijan?

I have quite close ties with Azerbaijan. My native village is located in the north of Azerbaijan in the Qusar region. Parents still live in Baku, and I will tell you that they do not want to move anywhere from there. Of course, I visit my parents several times a year. Sometimes they come to me. My children are resting with their grandparents.

- By the way, about the children. We don't know anything about your family. Tell us about her ...

Let me tell you in a nutshell. I have two sisters. They are living in Moscow. I myself am married, I have three children. Happy. My family is with me in Grozny.

- Tell me, is there a favorite place in Baku?

- I cannot say that I have a favorite place in Baku. This is the city of my childhood, youth. Boulevard, old town. There are many places where you can go with friends, classmates.

-Well, the last question. Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov is a rather temperamental person. What is it like working with him?

I consider myself a person who has drawn a lucky ticket. It is a pleasure to work under the leadership of Ramzakh Akhmatovich Kadyrov. And accordingly, you get great satisfaction from working with him.

Javid Osmanov

Elkhan Abdullaevich Suleimanov(July 15, 1974; Lezg. Suleimanrin Abdullagyan hwa Elkhan) - doctor, candidate of medical sciences, Minister of Health of the Chechen Republic. Lezgin by nationality.

Biography

Born on July 15, 1974 in the village of Yargun, Qusar region of the Azerbaijan SSR. Graduated with honors from the Azerbaijan Medical University. After graduation, 1998-1999, he worked at the Baku Cancer Research Center of Azerbaijan. In Moscow, he graduated from postgraduate studies at the Russian Oncological Center. N. N. Blokhin, is a candidate of medical sciences. From 2012 to 2014 he worked as a leading researcher at the Research Institute of Pediatrics. G.N.Speransky.

He completed internships in the USA (at the largest oncological hospital in the world - MD Anderson Cancer Center) and Germany. He is currently an experienced operating oncologist. He speaks several foreign languages.

On March 17, 2014, he was appointed advisor to the Head of the Chechen Republic on health issues, chief physician of the State Budgetary Institution "Republican Oncological Dispensary" in Grozny

On November 17, 2015, he was appointed to the post of the 1st Deputy Minister of Health of the Chechen Republic.