Local foods, food-safety habits, hospital daily life, travel during treatment, the health system, language and emergency numbers from reliable sources.
Keep a translation of your diagnosis, treatment plan and medication list in this language or in English. Many hospitals offer interpreters — ask in advance.
Health system overview
Residents are covered by compulsory medical insurance (OMS). Any foreign national has a legal right to free care in life-threatening situations; otherwise hospitals may ask for payment first. The EHIC is not valid in Russia.
Leukemia care: centres
Russia
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Main centres
National Medical Research Center for Hematology, Moscow
Dmitry Rogachev National Medical Research Center of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology, Moscow (children)
R.M. Gorbacheva Research Institute of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Transplantation, Pavlov University, St Petersburg (children and adults)
Transplant: All three perform allogeneic transplants, including from unrelated and haploidentical donors. According to the official national projects portal, the Rogachev Center performs about 250 transplants a year.
Good to know: Transplantation is provided as high-tech medical care; the referral is prepared by the treating doctor according to the procedure approved by the Ministry of Health (order No. 875n of 2018).
Wherever you live, the core rules with low immunity are the same: clean hands, keeping raw and cooked food apart, cooking thoroughly, chilling quickly and choosing pasteurised dairy. At local markets and street stalls, watch how food is stored. Ask your team whether tap water is fine for you; if unsure, use bottled or boiled water.
Hospital daily life
In many hospitals in this region a family member stays with the patient to help with daily care, and families often bring food from home. With low immunity, agree with the ward which food can be brought and how it should be prepared and stored. Fewer visitors, and none who are unwell, lowers the risk of infection.
Travel during treatment
Talk to your care team before planning a trip — timing, blood counts and vaccines.
Carry a doctor’s letter with your diagnosis, treatment plan and medication list (including in English).
Pack medicines in original packaging, in hand luggage, with extra; some medicines have import rules.
Get travel insurance that covers your existing condition and read the terms.
Find the nearest haematology centre and the emergency number at your destination in advance.
Live vaccines can be unsafe during treatment — ask your team before any vaccination.
Ask your team about clot risk on long flights and move around when you can.
