Izvestia: "To live as long as a European"
A population increase has been recorded in Russia, something the country has not seen for a long time, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday. The news naturally led him to announce the government’s demographic policies for the next few years.
The annual number of births has consistently been above 1.5 million since 2007, while the death rate has dropped for four years running, Putin said at a presidium meeting of the presidential Council for the Implementation of Priority National Projects and Demographic Policy. Life expectancy in Russia rose to 69 years. This resulted in a population increase in 2009. Migration played a role here as well, as only 30,000 left Russia last year, while 280,000 immigrants arrived, mainly from the CIS countries.
Government officials are happy that the first stage of the adopted demographic policy until 2025 has been effective. The government is preparing for the second stage, with an objective to increase the Russian population to 142-143 million by 2016.
“Our goal is not just to stabilise the population numbers, but to create conditions for steady growth. The new plan calls for an average life expectancy of 71 years,” Putin said describing the goals for the second stage.
“That figure is realistic,” said economist Yevgeny Gontmakher, director of the centre for social studies at the Russian Academy of Science's Institute of Economics, pointing out that each “additional” year is achieved through substantial budget investment. The government does not have much money, which is probably the reason the plan is so modest.
“A life expectancy of 71 years is the average in Lithuania and Romania and is the lowest in Europe. In Western Europe, it is closer to 80 and continues to increase,” said Anatoly Vishnevsky, head of the National Demography Institute under the Higher School of Economics.
The government will boost healthcare spending, but analysts do not think this policy alone will significantly improve the situation.
“Disease is not the main killer in Russia. The death rate due to external causes is higher, especially from alcoholism. The problem is not only high alcohol consumption, but rather the way it is consumed,” Vishnevsky said.
“People must come to their senses and realise that their health is their responsibility, not the government’s,” Gontmakher added.
Alexandra Ponomaryova
