Press Release, 12.05.2020

The Nizhny Novgorod branch of Yabloko sent an appeal to the Deputy Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region and the Rector of the Medical University on the inadmissibility to forcibly involve medical students to work with patients with coronavirus.

Henry Bernard, Coordinator of the working group on healthcare issues of the Nizhny Novgorod regional branch of Yabloko, demands from the administration of the Volga Region Research Medical University and other Russian medical universities to recruit students for this work exclusively on a voluntary basis.

“Information has emerged that students of Russian medical universities are forcibly sent to hospitals to deal with patients with COVID-19.  Universities’ administration regards this work as an equivalent to the planned practice of students. In case of refusal, students are threatened not to get credits for medical practice,” Bernard noted.

“The working group on healthcare issues at the Nizhny Novgorod branch of the Yabloko party addresses David Melik-Guseynov, Deputy Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, and Nikolay Karyakin, Rector of the Volga Region Research Medical University, asking them to refrain from such actions,” Bernard said.

In addition, the working group calls on the authorities and hospital administrations to focus their efforts, first of all, on the provision of all the necessary individual protection and material compensation for professionals who have been working already with COVID-19, and recruit students to such work exclusively on a voluntary basis.