Opening Rospotrebnadzor facilities in the regions

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, good afternoon.

Today we celebrate the anniversary of the establishment of the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Service. I congratulate all the Rospotrebnadzor employees on this date.

It is marked on September 15, because formally this service was created in 1922, though we know - and you know this better than anyone - that its history is even longer: it began back in the times of Ivan the Terrible. I believe this was when the Apothecary Order was established.

I would like to thank all of you, as well as your colleagues in the regions of our vast country, for responsibly fulfilling your duties and effectively addressing tasks to protect consumers' rights and people's health.

Thanks to you, and to many generations of your predecessors - talented doctors and scientists - Russia has built a unique system of sanitary and epidemiological control. Today, it is recognised as one of the most advanced in the world and, importantly, it continues to evolve dynamically.

Its core principles - prevention and risk mitigation - remain the foundation of your work. Every day, you monitor the quality of the environment, water, air, and food. This work often goes unnoticed, yet it is of paramount importance. You promptly detect and counter dangerous infections, carry out vital scientific research, and implement advanced methods of monitoring and forecasting epidemics, thereby safeguarding people's lives.

The coronavirus epidemic clearly demonstrated this. The well-coordinated, professional actions of Rospotrebnadzor specialists became a crucial part of the nationwide efforts to fight this dangerous disease.

The experience gained during that challenging period largely formed the basis for the federal project to create the so-called sanitary shield of Russia. Its primary goal is to protect people from new biological threats. I would like to ask Head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova to elaborate on what has already been achieved in this area.

To be continued.