15 April 2004 20:30
Russian health care chief says Russia threatened by short life expectancy
Moscow, 15 April: Russia will need 100 years to reach the current life expectancy in the developed countries, the
vice-president of the Russian Medical Association, Yuriy Komarov, thinks.
"Today the difference in the average life expectancy of Russians and the inhabitants of developed countries
abroad is 15-18 years. Something like 100 years will be needed to close the gap," Komarov said, when speaking at
the opening of the 5th All-Russia Pirogov Congress of Doctors.
Komarov said that the population's premature death-rate is one of the most important problems in Russian health
care.
"Today the death-rate in Russia is higher than almost 100 years ago," Komarov said. Moreover, according to
his figures, more than 40 per cent of the premature deaths could potentially be prevented if high standard medical
treatment were rendered in time.
"Today society is suffering huge losses owing to injuries," Komarov said. He said that last year 35,000
people were killed on the roads, and the number of people injured and left invalids in road accidents is seven times
greater.
Komarov said that the decreasing birth rate, which is considerably less than the death-rate is another serious
problem. "If this trend continues and goes on growing, then, according to the forecasts we have, in 2015 Russia
will lose approximately 11 million people, and by 2040 there will only be 90 million people in Russia," Komarov
said.
[RIA news agency] |
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