Healthcare in Russia
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Russia has more physicians, hospitals, and health care workers than almost any other country in the world on a per capita basis. Regardless, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the health of the Russian population has declined considerably as a result of social, economic, and lifestyle changes.[4] However, after Vladimir Putin become a president in 2000 there was significant growth in spending for public healthcare[5] and in 2006 it exceed the pre-1991 level in real terms.[5] Also life expectancy increased from 1991-93 levels, infant mortality rate dropped from 18.1 in 1995 to 8.4 in 2008.[6] Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced a large large-scale health-care reform in 2011 and pledged to allocate more than 300 billion rubles ($10 billon) in the next few years to improve health care in the country.[7] He also said that obligatory medical insurance tax paid by companies for compulsory medical insurance will increase from current 3.1% to 5.1% starting from 2011.[7]
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Life expectancy
See also: List of countries by life expectancy
Russian male and female life expectancy since 1950.[8][9]
As of 2009, the average life expectancy in Russia was 62.77 years for males and 74.67 years for females.[10] The average Russian life expectancy of 68.67 years at birth is nearly 10 years shorter than the overall average figure for the European Union, or the United States.[11]
The biggest factor contributing to this relatively low life expectancy for males is a high mortality rate among working-age males from preventable causes (e.g., alcohol poisoning, stress, smoking, traffic accidents, violent crimes). Mortality among Russian men rose by 60% since 1991, four to five times higher than European average.[12]
As a result of the large difference in life expectancy between men and women and because of the lasting effect of World War II[citation needed], where Russia lost more men than any other nation in the world, the gender imbalance remains to this day and there are 0.859 males to every female.[13]
Major health issues
Common causes of death
In 2008, 1,185,993, or 57% of all deaths in Russia were caused by cardiovascular disease. The second leading cause of death was cancer which claimed 289,257 lives (14%). External causes of death such as suicide (1.8%), road accidents (1.7%), murders (1.1%), accidental alcohol poisoning (1.1%), and accidental drowning (0.5%), claimed 244,463 lives in total (11%). Other major causes of death were diseases of the digestive system (4.3%), respiratory disease (3.8%), infectious and parasitic diseases (1.6%), and tuberculosis (1.2%).[14] The infant mortality rate in 2008 was 8.5 deaths per 1,000, down from 9.6 in 2007. Since the Soviet collapse, there has been a dramatic rise in both cases of and deaths from tuberculosis, with the disease being particularly widespread amongst prison inmates.[15]
Smoking
Russia is the world leader in smoking. According to a survey reported in 2010 by Russia’s Health and Social Development Ministry, 43.9 million adults in Russia are smokers. Among Russians aged 19 to 44 years, 7 in 10 men smoke and 4 in 10 women smoke.[16] It is estimated that 330,000-400,000 people die in Russia each year due to smoking-related diseases.
Alcohol consumption
Main article: Alcoholism in Russia
Alcohol consumption and Alcoholism are major problems in Russia. It is estimated that Russians drink 15 litres (26 pints) of pure alcohol each year. This number is nearly 3 times as much as it was in 1990.[17] In Moscow on September 24 of 2009, Russia's interior minister Rashid Nurgaliyev cited the average intake at an estimated 18 liters a year; "In Russia, each person, including babies, accounts for about 18 liters of spirits per year. In the opinion of WHO experts, consumption of more than 8 liters per year poses a real threat to the health of the nation. Russia has long exceeded this level".[18] It has even been reported that excessive alcohol consumption is to blame for nearly half of all premature deaths in Russia.[19] A recent study blamed alcohol for more than half the deaths (52%) among Russians aged 15 to 54 from 1990 to 2001. For the same demographic, this compares to 4% of deaths for the rest of the world.[20]