Doctors Stage Warning Strikes Across Russia
Doctors and ambulance medics staged warning strikes across Russia on Thursday and were threatening a full-scale protest against low wages, decrepit equipment and a shortage of medicine.
The strikes stem from a general collapse of the medical system as Russia struggles to move from a centrally planned to a market economy.
Russians, who for decades have been given free medical care, may now be forced to pay, and few have the money to spare. Government authorities are unable or unwilling to cope with the crisis, doctors say.
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