Strengthening public health: balance of responsibility of the state and a citizen

The modern realities of social, economic and demographic development of the country place high demands on human potential of population, in particular, on physical state. Strengthening population health is a necessary condition for socio-economic development of the territories and Russia as a whole, therefore it requires close attention from not only society, but also authorities at all levels. Among a wide list of factors that determine individual and public health, lifestyle characteristics including people’s behavior in relation to their own health, come to the fore in a number of controlled factors. Domestic and foreign studies have suffi ciently detailed developed the topic of assessing the relationship between people’s behavior and the risks of developing various pathologies, but the infl uence of people’s internal psychological attitudes regarding health care on the practice of taking care of it, as well as the potential of its infl uence on the overall picture of indicators characterizing public health, remains insuffi ciently studied. The purpose of this research is to assess the possibilities and limitations of achieving responsibility balance for the citizens’ health state between them and the state. The information base of the work is the data of offi cial statistics, as well as the long-term monitoring of health and self-preservation behavior of the Vologda Oblast population, conducted by the Vologda Research Center. The authors have carry out the analysis of assessments of the health state and individual parameters of selfpreserving behavior among the Vologda Oblast population, who recognize and do not recognize personal responsibility for health. The article fi nds that respondents, responsible for their health, are much more likely to call health the main value of life, better assess its condition, more often apply health-saving measures, take care of it and are more motivated to lead a healthy lifestyle. At the same time, the paper shows that increasing the personal responsibility of population for their health should be accompanied by improving the work of the primary health care system in the region and expanding the prevention of behavioral health risks.