Moscow, 15 October: Birth rates have gone up in Russia, while the number of abortions has declined, Russian Deputy Health Minister Olga Sharapova said at meeting of the ministry board on Tuesday [15 October].
Since 1991 until 2002, birth rates have gone up by 9.6 per cent, Sharapova said. The death rate caused by illnesses during pregnancy and child birth has dropped from 537 to 479 cases over the past three years.
The number of abortions has declined from 2.1m in 1999 to 1.9m in 2001. In recent years, infant mortality rates have dropped from 14,6 cases per every 1,000 infants in 2001 to 13.9 lethal cases in 2002,Sharapova said.
However, the number of women who have health problems during pregnancy continues to grow, and the level of gynaecological diseases remains very high yet, Sharapova said.
In general, the mother and child health statistics have positive dynamics in Russia, the Health Ministry said.
_________________________________________________________________ Surf the Web without missing calls! Get MSN Broadband. http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/freeactivation.asp