"Lukashenko Himself Is Being Treated By A Select Group Of Doctors"

• 30.07.2026, 14:13

A doctor has diagnosed the healthcare system in Belarus.

Belarusian universities, including medical schools, have faced a massive shortfall in applicants this year. Even in programs where competition was high just a short time ago, there are still open spots.

Why have some medical universities been left without applicants this year, even though competition for admission was off the charts just a short time ago?

A Belarusian doctor living in Spain, Alexei Nosov, answered this and other questions posed by the website Charter97.org:

— There are many factors. To begin with, this is a genuine national humanitarian crisis.

And we’re not just talking about medical universities, but about higher education in general. There’s also a global trend: young people aren’t very eager to study. I see this with my own children. They don’t have much desire to go to university, gain knowledge, and then work for someone else. They’re trying to find their own path in life.

The second issue is the state of medicine in Belarus. It’s quite dire, both in terms of outcomes and organization. I’m referring to low salaries and the relationship between patients and doctors. There are so many factors that simply discourage the desire to work effectively and achieve results. In the past, there were medical dynasties—families with a strong medical background. The Bologna Process was in effect at the Belarusian State Medical University in Minsk. Now, the elite have essentially dispersed, and the continuity within families has disappeared.

The Bologna system at the Belarusian State Medical University has been completely eliminated. As a result, people see no prospects for the future and, consequently, do not go there to study.
You must realize that with such low competition, medical universities will be admitting students who are incapable of learning and absorbing such a vast amount of material. I studied at the Belarusian State Medical University and understand perfectly well what it means to master the volume of material they teach there. It’s a very large, colossal, practically unimaginable amount. If you try to absorb absolutely everything you’re given, your mental energy can simply run out.

Back in my day, the people who enrolled were capable of learning. But even they, once they were already in university, chose exactly what they needed to focus on. They took from what they were given only what they would actually need. If a person had decided on their future specialty, they would move in that direction. It could be surgery, dermatology, or some other specialty. They tried to study as much as possible of what would be useful to them later on. If you don’t have that kind of selectivity, if you don’t know what you want, then trying to master absolutely everything you’re given can, to put it bluntly, drive you crazy.

The point is that because of all this, the quality of medical care will decline significantly. I’m not saying that only complete fools or anything like that go to medical schools. But grades do, after all, reflect your ability to absorb the material and your desire to learn. To a large extent, this determines what kind of specialist you’ll become. This is a serious humanitarian disaster. I’m not going to criticize anyone. This is a problem for our nation, considering that this is happening not only in medical universities but, worst of all, in teacher-training universities as well.

Teachers are on the front lines of passing knowledge on to people. We often see that far from all teachers come to work specifically to teach children. Many simply clock in, collect their pay, and go home without a care. Very few teachers remain who truly impart knowledge. The same thing is happening with engineers and professionals in other fields.
It’s important not just to absorb what you’re taught, but also to be able to improvise based on that knowledge. Medicine is imperfect; it needs to evolve. There are still many discoveries to be made.
This applies to the body’s ability to regenerate, heal, self-repair, and much more. All of this needs to be researched and explored. And if a person lacks imagination, where can they possibly go?
This applies to the body’s ability to regenerate, recover, heal itself, and much more. All of this needs to be researched and discovered. And if a person lacks imagination, where can they possibly go?
— At the same time, in Belarus there remains a colossal shortage of healthcare workers. Where have Belarusian medical professionals gone and why doesn’t anyone want to work in the public healthcare system?

— The main factor is that we live in an economic world where money rules everything. Working 180–200 hours a month and ending up with a salary that barely gets you by until the next paycheck is no laughing matter. It really isn’t funny.
A great many professionals of my generation, as well as people slightly older or younger who were accomplished in their own right, sought a way to the West and found it. Many have left, and they’re in high demand there. The last of my classmates who remained in Belarus left two years ago. Our entire group has been abroad for a long time now. He was the head of a department—I won’t specify which one—and had extensive hands-on experience. We all asked him, “Why don’t you leave?” He replied, “I have something to lose. I’m a department head here,” and so on.

When he finally left for Germany, he realized that the salary level there was completely different. For the work he does, he earns—and I’ll emphasize this—ten times more than he did in Belarus. Ten times more. That’s a very significant figure, after all. Let’s start with that.
Many people would be willing to continue working in Belarus. But there are also issues regarding the organization of healthcare and patients’ attitudes toward doctors.
I understand that, in the eyes of some patients, doctors are to blame for all their illnesses. But, excuse me, if a person eats three or four kilograms of food, does nothing all day, smokes a pack of cigarettes, and then goes to the doctor demanding that their health be restored, that’s not serious—and it’s not funny at all. Health education in Belarus is nonexistent. You could say it doesn’t exist at all. The healthcare system is simply ridiculous—utterly ridiculous by European standards. When a doctor in Belarus shows up for work, he immediately finds himself at risk of criminal charges. They’ve only just arrived at work, and they’re already effectively facing criminal charges. This is no secret; all doctors know it.

Then there are patients who think they’re always right and start insulting the doctor. Of course, not everyone behaves this way. But some insult you right from the doorstep—sometimes they even come at you with their fists. You’re forced to deal with all of this instead of focusing on your actual medical work. Personally, I’m not interested in that, and neither are many other people.

On top of everything else, doctors aren’t exactly the dumbest people on earth. They have a certain level of education and intellectual capacity. They understand what’s going on around them, know their own worth, and try to find something acceptable for their lives. That’s why the vast majority of doctors have simply left. Those who stayed continue to work. Some are simply working until retirement. Others were forced out of the profession. You understand that, in addition to the staff shortage, there are also repressions taking place in Belarus.

I won’t go into detail about that. These people have lost their jobs. They can no longer work as doctors in Belarus. Naturally, they go abroad, have their degrees recognized, and start working there. In Belarus, they’re not allowed to work simply because they’re disloyal to the Lukashenko regime.
You do realize that the man who is currently ruling Belarus illegally is working to completely destroy the country. So that the people who will eventually come to rebuild this country will have virtually no chance left.

Many of those who have remained in Belarus do not understand this. People who work in factories don’t understand this, and neither do our patients. They don’t realize that soon there simply won’t be anyone left to treat them. The state is ensuring that everyone inside the country has fewer and fewer opportunities to live a normal life.

— What do the massive shortfall in medical school enrollment and the acute shortage of personnel say about the quality of Belarusian medicine under Lukashenko’s regime?

— Your question leaves virtually no room for speculation. So I’ll put it bluntly: medicine in Belarus is dying. You yourself have led me to this answer. If we’re talking about the general trend, the quality of medicine cannot be judged solely by the caliber of students entering universities. Perhaps there are many among the admitted students who genuinely want to study, who will ultimately gain knowledge, find a purpose in life specifically at a medical university, and become decent doctors. It’s very difficult to predict this.

But the healthcare system itself—the way it currently operates, how patients make appointments, how initial consultations are conducted, and the coordination between all entities, including hospital and pre-hospital care—is nothing but a source of sadness.

It really is sad. A system like this leads nowhere. It’s a dead end. You understand that there are special medical facilities and so-called medical commissions that serve lawmakers and other cronies close to those in power. Lukashenko himself is also treated by a select group of doctors.

But the problem is that these institutions are often staffed by people with connections rather than specialists. That’s why officials, generals, and high-ranking security officials don’t want to be treated at these facilities and seek out other doctors. In particular, I’ve had patients who did not receive treatment through the medical commission. They sought me out and other doctors to get quality care.
They’ve even failed when it comes to organizing medical care for top officials. They try to fill well-paid positions with mama’s boys and people who are good for nothing, simply because they’re someone’s son.

All of this leads nowhere. Reform in the country must not be limited to medicine. Everything needs to be reformed.