OREANDA-NEWS. December 15, 2008. Three-stage medical assistance system is available in the International Space Station. It comprises on-board equipment and resources are integrated in this system, states Valery Bogomolov, IBMP Deputy Director.

"For the time being we have US and Russian means available. At the same time, Japan and Europe reveal their interest towards this system, since now Japan and European modules are attached to the ISS", he clarifies.

The system accepted by all the ISS IPs is based on the following basic principles: medical assistance in emergency cases within 72 hours (duration of the emergency return procedure); medical treatment in somatic cases within 45 days of the mission; out-patient treatment in case of crew health breakdown, in order not to violate crew efficiency and fulfil mission program.

This approach to medical assistance is not the only way to preserve crew`s health during the long-term missions, emphasizes Bogomolov. The crew does physical exercises every day. They use Russian and US trainers, including US treadmill. However, this complicated device fails frequently. That is why Russian specialists have developed Russian treadmill, which is to replace the US one in 2011.