MOSCOW, January 4 (RIA Novosti) – Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has approved a development strategy for the medical sciences in Russia through 2025, a press release posted on the government website Friday says.

“The main aim of the Strategy is to deliver development in medical sciences, aiming at creating high-tech innovative products that secure and strengthen the population’s health, through the transfer of innovative technologies to practical healthcare,” the statement reads.

The strategy sets the goal of modernizing 50 percent of the country’s laboratories, and all its clinical facilities, by 2025, and also aims to boost the number of young professionals working in this field.

The Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova has noted that the strategy covers a variety of areas, including the creation of new pre-clinical research centers built to international standards, and the establishment of high-tech research clusters at the country’s leading universities.

She had previously criticized the sector for not capitalizing on the financial and human resource potential at its disposal, and for insufficient engagement with the international professional community.