Editorial: Public health challenges in post-Soviet countries during and beyond COVID-19

Public health challenges in post-Soviet countries during and beyond COVID-The dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on December 25, 1991, marked a monumental event in the latter half of the 20th century.It led to the emergence of fifteen former socialist republics-Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan-as independent nations, breaking away from the former union.This significant dissolution triggered a profound socio-economic crisis, the repercussions of which endured for many years.In fact, some of these independent states have yet to fully recover their pre-dissolution levels of socio-economic development, even as of today (1).Currently, the wealthiest post-Soviet states are those that possess ample natural resources, such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan, and those like the three Baltic states that successfully transitioned to market-oriented economies and established stable political systems.The objective of this paper is to describe the public health situation in those countries.During the Soviet era, the Semashko model proved to be both cost-effective and well-structured, significantly contributing to the overall health improvement of the Soviet population.This centralized, all-encompassing healthcare model featured a hierarchical structure, with the state funding and providing healthcare services to its citizens free of charge.It placed a particular emphasis on controlling communicable diseases such as typhus and tuberculosis, with primary and hospital care as its cornerstones.The Semashko model led to several improvements, ensuring the availability of essential vaccines and achieving high vaccination coverage rates, as well as low rates of infant and maternal mortality (2).However, in the 1980s, the collapse of oil prices, upon which the USSR's economy heavily relied, initiated a decline in healthcare quality due to insufficient investment and mismanagement.By the time of the USSR's dissolution, the healthcare system was grappling with shortages of basic equipment, medications, and modern technologies, despite having an abundant supply of healthcare professionals.Consequently, the former Soviet republics inherited an underfunded and inefficient healthcare system, compelling them to confront the numerous challenges arising from the union's dissolution (3).Following the disintegration of the USSR, the newly independent nations were compelled to undertake comprehensive reforms of their public systems, including healthcare, which had long adhered to the Semashko system.