An elderly pensioner, Raisa survives on a meagre state pension and by growing her own vegetables.

BBC: Postcards from Russia

The Gorbachevs daringly decided that Raisa would be part of a modern-looking, western-style duo.

ECONOMIST: Raisa Gorbachev

She was away, but her neighbour, Raisa, was keen to talk.

BBC: Postcards from Russia

As a result of his photograph and her accompanying words, which were published on the BBC website in January, Raisa now receives a monthly stipend from a donor in America who was touched by her predicament.

BBC: Postcards from Russia

But as Raisa Deber, a health-policy expert at the University of Toronto, points out, the strongest selling-point of Mr Romanow's report is not his largely sensible proposals, but the fact that he spent 18 months listening to the views of ordinary Canadians.

ECONOMIST: Canadian health care: Prescription for change | The