Health of Russian citizens: We'll go the other way

Bound by the same goal
Notes on the margins of the WHO report "What do people die from?"Alexander Protsenko, Trud No. 067-2012

The World Health Organization has told what people on Earth most often die from. But Russia is going its own way here, too. In our country, ailments that send citizens to another world are often associated with social status, education and mental state.

Every third earthling has high blood pressure, and this is the cause of almost half of deaths from stroke. 12% of the world's population suffers from obesity, and 2.8 million people die from it a year – more than from hunger. Every tenth adult earthling suffers from diabetes. In general, chronic diseases lead to almost two thirds of all deaths in the world, according to a new WHO report on the greatest threats to human life on Earth.

All these data directly affect the Russian Federation, where today the mortality rate is 15.2 people for every thousand of the population. For comparison: in Australia, the death rate per thousand people is 6.4, in the USA, France and Japan – 8, in the UK – 9.5, in Germany and Sweden – 10. And according to the reports of the Ministry of Health and Social Development, everything is fine with us!

One of the reasons for Russian backwardness is poor treatment or lack of it at all. In case of heart attacks and strokes, it is important to quickly provide first aid, but either the ambulance will be late, or the doctor will not be around at all. Mortality from cardiovascular diseases in Russia is 57%, with almost one in five dying at working age. In Europe and the USA, these indicators are 3-5 times lower.

Overweight in Russia affects about 50% of the population – mainly due to poor nutrition. According to official reports, here we are on a par with other developed countries where they do not like to go on a diet. According to official statistics, there are 3 million diabetics in Russia, but in reality, according to Marina Shestakova, director of the Endocrinological Research Center Diabetes Institute, there are at least 9-10 million.

And according to many other indicators, our medical statistics can "work wonders". For example, according to the results of this year, 2012, international experts expect a significant increase in child mortality in Russia – in connection with the law that came into force, according to which a child is considered a person from the moment of birth. And last year, babies whose birth weight did not reach 1 kg were not even registered until doctors had full confidence in his survival.

However, Acting Minister of Health and Social Development Tatyana Golikova claims that over the 4.5 years of her leadership of the industry, we have "achieved good results in reducing mortality, financial security of the healthcare system and promoting the idea of a healthy lifestyle." And even, Golikova is sure, the prerequisites have been created "so that our healthcare system is at the same level" as in Germany.

Independent domestic and foreign specialists – doctors and demographers – are convinced of the opposite. "The current mortality rate in Russia is incredibly, unreasonably high," says Nicholas Ebarstadt, a well–known American economist and demographer who studies the situation in our country. – This applies primarily to the male population. Even in Moscow, the life expectancy of an average resident is lower than in Calcutta."

What is even more surprising to the overseas demographer is the "monstrous jumps" of Russian mortality statistics, which in the last 20 years "look like stock market fluctuations."

There is still a very big difference in the level of health between more and less educated people, a very significant stratification of society in terms of education. Statistics show that the mortality rate of Russians who have received higher education, although higher than the average in Germany, France, Great Britain, is comparable to the mortality rate in these countries. And among people with only secondary education, the mortality rate is more similar to that of the poorest countries in Latin America. The mortality rate among those who have not even graduated from high school and are often marginalized by social status is at the level of the poorest countries in Africa.

President Vladimir Putin immediately after the inauguration, one of the first decrees instructed the government of Dmitry Medvedev to ensure an increase in life expectancy to 74 years by 2018.

By the way, in 2005-2007, there was a fairly noticeable decrease in mortality in Russia – from 16.1 to 14.2 per thousand people. This was primarily due to a noticeable decrease in alcohol consumption, and especially surrogates, after the legislative tightening of the turnover of alcoholic beverages.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru22.05.2012