ST. PETERSBURG, June 21. /Dina Danilova, RIA Novosti correspondent/.
There is no demographic catastrophe in Russia, Russian Health Minister
Yuri Shevchenko claimed at a press briefing on the sidelines of the Ministry
board's St. Petersburg session with an agenda entitled "The Mother and
Infant Mortality Rate in the Russian Federation: the State and Forecast."
Yuri Shevchenko did admit the country is facing serious demographic problems,
though. However, he put them down to wars and other tragic events rather
than to economic challenges - such as the population's progressive impoverishment
over the economic reform of the 1990s, low living standards, or the deteriorating
environment.
Yuri Shevchenko went on to hail last year's half-hearted take-off of
the birth rate as "a sign of stabilization" in the country.
According to Health Ministry's statistics, in 2000, 44698 more children
were born in the Russian Federation than the previous year, thus reversing
the down demographic trend of the past few years. The birth rate effectively
grew from 8.3 to 8.7 per 1000 people. However, the nation is still leading
in terms of mortality rate.
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