President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Murashko, I suggest we begin with the most important and challenging issue of all – the demographic situation. You wanted to start the meeting with this topic.
Minister of Healthcare Mikhail Murashko: Mr President,
I would like to begin by saying that the situation in healthcare and demographics has been improving as the number of Covid cases started to decline, which has been an additional factor in improving life expectancy.
Never before in the history of the Russian Federation has overall child mortality been as low as it is today.
As for the adult population, the results for cancer patients have been quite encouraging, and I will elaborate on this topic later. Here, the mortality rate declined by 4.5 percent over the past two years.
Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic exacerbated the situation with cardiovascular diseases, since its complications included thrombophilic disorders, or thrombosis. Covid has been receding, as we got better at treating and preventing it. Compared to 2019, mortality from cardiovascular diseases declined by 10 percent. However, this outcome is attributable to a whole range of initiatives.
I would like to note that regarding cancer patients, early diagnosis is essential. At the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, we had to limit our preventive efforts, and offered people fewer check-ups and medical examinations in order to spare them the risk of catching Covid. However, as soon as the number of Covid cases dropped, we resumed appointments and ensured flexible schedules. To these efforts, we must add the large number of X-rays we performed for diagnosing lung diseases on time.
To be continued.
Source – The Russian Kremlin: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/70884