Healthcare system state in the Central federal district regions in the context of socio-economic challenges

Healthcare has a favorable impact on reducing the mortality rate, increasing life expectancy and improving the health of the nation as a whole. The impact of healthcare development and its efficiency on demographic trends has been noted by many researchers, emphasizing that the higher the medical development level, the more favorable demographic situation can be expected. The pandemic experience proves that systemic unpreparedness of the sector to epidemiological challenges can lead to significant negative consequences for the demographic potential of the country in the sphere of health and quality of life. The aim of the study is to examine the healthcare system in terms of its ability to withstand challenges in Russian regions and its relationship with demography, using the case study of the Central Federal District regions. The information base is Rosstat data on the development of healthcare and demographics in the country and the Central Federal District in the period 2014-2022. The research methodology consists in identifying cause-and-effect relationships between the financial provision of healthcare and the performance of the industry in the context of the potential for a positive impact on the demographic situation in the country. We determined that in all regions of the Central Federal District, except Moscow, the previous decline in the resource potential of healthcare was one of the factors concerning unfavorable demographic consequences, most clearly manifested in 2021, when the population decreased significantly. In 2022, against the background of the end of the global pandemic, there was a natural decline in mortality in the country, and the population began to increase again. This allows saying that, in fact, the healthcare system, which is entrusted with the primary role of protecting citizensэ health in an unfavorable epidemiological situation, was ineffective during the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic experience showed the presence of a number of problems that hindered a more effective counteraction to COVID-19, which retain in the future the risk of excessive increase in the mortality rate at similar epidemiological threats. Based on the pandemic experience, it is necessary to take measures to improve the healthcare system in Russia.