People & Health 2011

People & Health is the biggest exhibition and congress for orthopaedics and rehabilitation in Russia and is supported by the Russian Ministry of Health and the All-Russian Prosthetists-Orthopedists Guild. The importance of this event reaches almost all regions of Russia and the countries of CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). Companies which exhibit with Leipziger Messe International benefit from special professional visitor advertisement campaigns. The congress alongside the exhibition receives a very high attention. This year, the ISPO is doing a scientific-practical event about the topics polio and orthopaedic technology which gives the congress an even more interesting note.

The current situation on the Russian market is influenced by many factors. A programme initiated by the Russian president will lead to substantial investment in the Russian healthcare industry over the next few years. There are plans for 15 medical high-tech organisations like trauma surgeons, orthopaedics and endoprosthetics.

There are also plans for the construction of 500 health care centres (for 20.000 inhabitants each) and additional expert clinics. St. Petersburg is a famous location for medical centres like the medical-military academy and the renowned Orthopaedic Institution "Albrecht". Furthermore numerous private clinics settle down in the region at the moment.

The Russian market for medical technology is assumed € 2.5 billion per year, whereby 90% are imported from abroad. The leading export countries are USA, Germany, Japan, Switzerland. In 2008, Russia imported medical technology of a worth of € 780 million from Germany. Whereas the total amount of German exports in the orthopaedic and rehabilitation technology field amounted up to € 21 million in 2007, the number of exports doubled in 2008 to an amount of € 44.1 million.