The Change Mariner

Russia's Health Care System Is Crumbling

Wall Street Journal (registraton required):

The dire state of Russia's public-health system has helped create what President Vladimir Putin calls a national emergency: Every year nearly a million more Russians die than are born. Even with surging immigration, mostly from former Soviet republics, Russia's population has dropped from 147 million in 1989 to 145 million last year. Life expectancy among men -- who have been hit especially hard by alcoholism and heart disease -- has dropped by five years in that period to 58.5, the lowest level in the developed world. If current trends continue, many demographers predict Russia's population could fall to as low as 100 million by 2050.

These statistics have inescapable economic consequences. Economists say declining health will shrink the nation's labor pool and reduce its productivity, potentially complicating Mr. Putin's stated aim of doubling Russia's gross domestic product over the next 10 years.

Posted by Timothy Fredel at February 16, 2004 12:21 PM | TrackBack
Related Categories: Area - Social - Demographics | Industry - Healthcare | Quadrant - Economic | Quadrant - Political | Quadrant - Social

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