Health is recognized as one of the first vital needs of man. The low level of public health can be considered a danger to the nation. In Russia elements of healthcare have existed since the times of the ancient Slavs in actions such as sanitization of settlements, burial of the dead during epidemics or wars. As Christianity spread, the church provided free care to poor patients, widows, and orphans. But the state legally and financially strengthened church charity. In 1096 the Grand Prince of Kievan Rus Yaroslav the Wise introduced a special tax: the tithe for the poor, orphans and the sick. The Soviet model of health care (Semashko system), was formed in 1918, under the leadership of the Russian People's Commissariat of Health (effectively the world's first Ministry of Health). It combined pre-existing systems and forms of healthcare. Public healthcare continued the basic traditions and principles: it was free and accessible to all. In general, the Soviet system tended to neglect primary care and place too much emphasis on specialty and hospital care. The number of hospital beds and doctors in the Soviet Union lagged far behind other countries. Massive construction of hospitals and overproduction of doctors have resulted in irrational spending of the budget which has affected the quality of healthcare. This system, in many cases subject to fair criticism at the time, was truly advanced. Only centralized state healthcare could effectively deal with mass epidemics in the country. This model has achieved considerable success in the fight against infectious diseases and tuberculosis, typhoid fever and typhus. The experience of the cholera epidemic in 1970 was evaluated by the world community as an example… middle of paper… a budget model towards a mixed public-private model destroyed in many ways the dignity of the national budget system, which included a relatively high level of healthcare and its availability. In 2000, the World Health Organization compiled a ranking of the world's health systems (the World Health Organization no longer produces such a table, due to the complexity of the task). Ranked from best to worst, Russia ranks 130th out of 190. The World Health Organization found that France offers the "best overall healthcare" in the world. France has a universal health care system (coverage for all members of society), largely funded by the government. These statistical facts can prove that free and universal public healthcare system can provide good quality medical services to everyone.