Go to the World Bank website for the report.
Despite strong economic growth, Russia is facing an alarming population decline, due in large part to untimely deaths from heart disease, traffic accidents, and alcoholism, says a World Bank report released December 8, 2006. A continuation of current trends means a shrinking adult workforce, destabilization of families, growing regional disparities, and national security risks, warn Bank experts.
Short, brutal lives for Russia’s men are taking a toll on society and families
Russia is one of the few middle-income countries in the world where life expectancy is falling. Life expectancy in Russia is 12 years less than it is in the US, a startling gap for a fellow-member of the G-8. Between 1992 and 2003, the Russian population declined by 6 million people to an estimated 143 million. If current low fertility and high mortality trends continue, the Russian Federation will lose approximately 18 million people by 2025.
Russian men are particularly at risk, they live16 years less on average than men in Western Europe and 14 years less than Russian women. The large difference by sex suggests that specific behavioral factors are implicated, rather than factors related to the external environment or adequacy of health care. If current ill health and disability continue, the healthy life expectancy of Russian males will fall to 53 years. According to Dying Too Young, since the late 1990s, the burden of chronic illness on families is estimated to have contributed to an annual loss of 5.6% of per capita income per year negatively affecting household incomes.
1 comment:
Great blog I hope we can work to build a better health care system as we are in a major crisis and health insurance is a major aspect to many.
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