Mother Russia now sees more abortions than babies born
    >From Jeremy Page in Moscow

IN THE two days since Lisa Petrachkova was born, Russia's population
has dropped by an estimated 2,000 people.
By the time she is one, more than 200,000 Russians will have died of
unnatural causes; almost seven times the estimated civilian deaths in
Iraq since the war began.

By her 50th birthday, Russia's population could have halved, based on
current trends. Little does she know it as she lies next to her mother,
Masha, in a Moscow maternity ward, but Lisa is on the front line of a
national fight for survival. By Russian standards, she is lucky to have
made it even this far: last year, there were 1.6 million registered
abortions in Russia and 1.5 million births.

"The situation is critical," said Vladimir Kulakov, deputy head of
the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and an adviser to President
Putin on the demographic crisis. "The most important thing for every
nation is to have confidence in its future."

Russia's population has been in decline since 1992 due to poor
medical care, one of the world's least healthy diets, and a national
weakness for vodka.

Experts say the crisis is reaching a critical level that threatens not
only its economic development, but its very existence.

According to the Federal Statistics Service, the population of 143
million could plummet to 77 million by the middle of this century. It
dropped by almost half a million in the last year alone.

Mr Putin raised the issue in April, calling it a "national crisis",
but the Government has yet to respond. Mr Putin is now under pressure
to dip into the Stabilisation Fund, designed to save excess oil
revenues, to arrest the population decline.

"Everyone says they agree with me and we have to do something, but
they have yet to take action," said Professor Kulakov. He was among
the first to highlight the issue in Pravda, the Communist Party
newspaper, in 1986, but his article fell on deaf ears.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he tried to get the Duma to
provide incentives for families to procreate but conservative
politicians blocked his proposals. Only now is the Kremlin sitting up
and listening. Life expectancy for Russian men has dropped to 58.8,
which is 20 years below the average in Iceland. The main killer is
heart disease but death by unnatural causes - industrial accidents,
car crashes, military conflict - comes second, killing 200,000 people
every year.

"This looks like a battlefield loss rate," said Irina Sbarskaya,
head of the Federal Statistics Service population department.

Russia's birth rate, meanwhile, has risen slightly as baby-boomers
from the 1980s reach reproductive age. But it is still way below the
levels needed to keep the population stable. The result is that Russia
will not have enough workers to drive its economy by around 2020.

Natalya Rimashevskaya, a population analyst, said: "We have reached a
point of no return. In terms of numbers there will never be more of us
than before. But this is not the worst of it. The danger is that we are
reaching another point of no return, in terms of the quality of the
population."

That much is already clear from the number of Russian schoolchildren,
which has dropped by one million a year since 1999, according to the
Education Ministry.

There are now 5,604 schools in Russia with only ten pupils each. The
short-term solution is to attract immigrants, especially ethnic
Russians from former Soviet republics. But an influx of immigrants in
the 1990s has already triggered a violent xenophobic backlash which
threatens Russia's social stability.

Over the long term, life expectancy in Russia will gradually improve if
the Government maintains political stability and economic growth.

The problem comes in trying to increase the birth rate.

According to Professor Kulakov, 10 million Russians are sterile due to
botched abortions, venereal diseases and exposure to radiation or
harmful chemicals. Among those who are fertile, as in the West, couples
are choosing to have fewer children, and later, because of the cost of
raising them.

The Russian Government pays new mothers a one-off stipend of 8,000
roubles (£150) and then 500 roubles a month after the first year. But
that barely covers basic costs.

Masha Petrachkova, 26, and her husband, Aleksei, delayed having
children in order to finish their studies and save enough money to move
out of her parents' apartment. She would like a second child, but is
worried about supporting Lisa.

"We'll see how life goes and we'll try to give Lisa everything
she wants but it will be hard," she said. "If you don't have the
financial resources in Russia, then you shouldn't give birth."

On 24 Sep 2005 04:11:55 -0700, [email protected]
wrote:

    >According to the Federal Statistics Service, the population of 143
    >million could plummet to 77 million by the middle of this century. It
    >dropped by almost half a million in the last year alone.

Fantastic! Wonderful!

Now, if we could achieve the same trends in the rest of the
world, we may be able to arrest the depletion of the
planet's resources and resulting problems like global
warming, famines, pollution, the list goes on.

Maybe we could get those Russians to hold teaching seminars
in Africa, the Americas, Asia?




Cheers, Alan, Australia

On Sat, 24 Sep 2005 21:50:02 +1000, in rec.travel.europe, Alan S <[email protected]>
arranged some electrons, so they looked like this :

... On 24 Sep 2005 04:11:55 -0700, [email protected]
... wrote:
...
... >According to the Federal Statistics Service, the population of 143
... >million could plummet to 77 million by the middle of this century. It
... >dropped by almost half a million in the last year alone.
...
... Fantastic! Wonderful!
...
... Now, if we could achieve the same trends in the rest of the
... world, we may be able to arrest the depletion of the
... planet's resources and resulting problems like global
... warming, famines, pollution, the list goes on.
...
... Maybe we could get those Russians to hold teaching seminars
... in Africa, the Americas, Asia?

I'm not sure that Africa needs such lessons... But I'm 100% with you here.

    > Russia's population has been in decline since 1992 due to poor
    > medical care, one of the world's least healthy diets, and a national
    > weakness for vodka.

Add to that list two incompetent presidents in a row who:
- gave national treasures to a few select friends, i.e. oligarchs
- allowed corruption and crime to skyrocket
- did nothing about the violent hazing in the military
- started two nasty wars in Chechnya
- could not grasp that tourism could result in thousands of high-
paying jobs for their citizens; as a result, visa barriers are still
daunting to the average tourist; still no national tourist agency
- gave their people no hope for the future

Casey

On Sat, 24 Sep 2005 14:01:56 GMT, "Casey"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >> Russia's population has been in decline since 1992 due to poor
    >> medical care, one of the world's least healthy diets, and a national
    >> weakness for vodka.
    >Add to that list two incompetent presidents in a row who:
    > - gave national treasures to a few select friends, i.e. oligarchs
    > - allowed corruption and crime to skyrocket
    > - did nothing about the violent hazing in the military
    > - started two nasty wars in Chechnya
    > - could not grasp that tourism could result in thousands of high-
    > paying jobs for their citizens; as a result, visa barriers are still
    > daunting to the average tourist; still no national tourist agency

This point strikes anyone who has ever been to Russia. Why the hell do
they make it so hard? You just want to go there and spend your money
for crying out loud! Do they actually think people are going to trek
up north to where they really ****ed up the environment? No, of course
not, they just want to wander around some of the prettier parts and go
home with some photos. And who on earth doesn't know that Russia is in
a shit state? God, even China shines by comparison.
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

"This point strikes anyone who has ever been to Russia. Why the hell do
they make it so hard?"

I think they're worried about Islamic militants entering the country.

On 24 Sep 2005 12:34:40 -0700, "Iceman" <[email protected]> wrote:

    >"This point strikes anyone who has ever been to Russia. Why the hell do
    >they make it so hard?"
    >I think they're worried about Islamic militants entering the country.

To my knowledge, Chechnya and Dagestan are already parts of Russia,
and are packed with Islamic militants.
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

    > "This point strikes anyone who has ever been to Russia. Why the hell
    > do they make it so hard?"
    > I think they're worried about Islamic militants entering the country.

The visa situation has been in place since Soviet times. Considering
that the Caucasus Mountains region, most of which is still in Russia,
is chock-full of Muslims, a visa barrier to them is pointless.

Casey

Here comes the successor
No martin, no evleth we just HAD to get more crappy OT posts or else this
group wouldn't be quite right, eh ?
And the usual followers answer of course...

<[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de news:
[email protected]. com...
Mother Russia now sees more abortions than babies born
    >From Jeremy Page in Moscow

IN THE two days since Lisa Petrachkova was born, Russia's population
has dropped by an estimated 2,000 people.
By the time she is one, more than 200,000 Russians will have died of
unnatural causes; almost seven times the estimated civilian deaths in
Iraq since the war began.

By her 50th birthday, Russia's population could have halved, based on
current trends. Little does she know it as she lies next to her mother,
Masha, in a Moscow maternity ward, but Lisa is on the front line of a
national fight for survival. By Russian standards, she is lucky to have
made it even this far: last year, there were 1.6 million registered
abortions in Russia and 1.5 million births.

"The situation is critical," said Vladimir Kulakov, deputy head of
the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and an adviser to President
Putin on the demographic crisis. "The most important thing for every
nation is to have confidence in its future."

Russia's population has been in decline since 1992 due to poor
medical care, one of the world's least healthy diets, and a national
weakness for vodka.

Experts say the crisis is reaching a critical level that threatens not
only its economic development, but its very existence.

According to the Federal Statistics Service, the population of 143
million could plummet to 77 million by the middle of this century. It
dropped by almost half a million in the last year alone.

Mr Putin raised the issue in April, calling it a "national crisis",
but the Government has yet to respond. Mr Putin is now under pressure
to dip into the Stabilisation Fund, designed to save excess oil
revenues, to arrest the population decline.

"Everyone says they agree with me and we have to do something, but
they have yet to take action," said Professor Kulakov. He was among
the first to highlight the issue in Pravda, the Communist Party
newspaper, in 1986, but his article fell on deaf ears.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he tried to get the Duma to
provide incentives for families to procreate but conservative
politicians blocked his proposals. Only now is the Kremlin sitting up
and listening. Life expectancy for Russian men has dropped to 58.8,
which is 20 years below the average in Iceland. The main killer is
heart disease but death by unnatural causes - industrial accidents,
car crashes, military conflict - comes second, killing 200,000 people
every year.

"This looks like a battlefield loss rate," said Irina Sbarskaya,
head of the Federal Statistics Service population department.

Russia's birth rate, meanwhile, has risen slightly as baby-boomers
from the 1980s reach reproductive age. But it is still way below the
levels needed to keep the population stable. The result is that Russia
will not have enough workers to drive its economy by around 2020.

Natalya Rimashevskaya, a population analyst, said: "We have reached a
point of no return. In terms of numbers there will never be more of us
than before. But this is not the worst of it. The danger is that we are
reaching another point of no return, in terms of the quality of the
population."

That much is already clear from the number of Russian schoolchildren,
which has dropped by one million a year since 1999, according to the
Education Ministry.

There are now 5,604 schools in Russia with only ten pupils each. The
short-term solution is to attract immigrants, especially ethnic
Russians from former Soviet republics. But an influx of immigrants in
the 1990s has already triggered a violent xenophobic backlash which
threatens Russia's social stability.

Over the long term, life expectancy in Russia will gradually improve if
the Government maintains political stability and economic growth.

The problem comes in trying to increase the birth rate.

According to Professor Kulakov, 10 million Russians are sterile due to
botched abortions, venereal diseases and exposure to radiation or
harmful chemicals. Among those who are fertile, as in the West, couples
are choosing to have fewer children, and later, because of the cost of
raising them.

The Russian Government pays new mothers a one-off stipend of 8,000
roubles (£150) and then 500 roubles a month after the first year. But
that barely covers basic costs.

Masha Petrachkova, 26, and her husband, Aleksei, delayed having
children in order to finish their studies and save enough money to move
out of her parents' apartment. She would like a second child, but is
worried about supporting Lisa.

"We'll see how life goes and we'll try to give Lisa everything
she wants but it will be hard," she said. "If you don't have the
financial resources in Russia, then you shouldn't give birth."

On Sun, 25 Sep 2005 09:53:22 +0200, in rec.travel.europe, "Runge" <[email protected]>
arranged some electrons, so they looked like this :

... Here comes the successor
... No martin, no evleth we just HAD to get more crappy OT posts or else this
... group wouldn't be quite right, eh ?
... And the usual followers answer of course...

Nice of you, to have left the entire post... :)

... <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de news:
... [email protected]. com...
... Mother Russia now sees more abortions than babies born
... >From Jeremy Page in Moscow
...
... IN THE two days since Lisa Petrachkova was born, Russia's population
... has dropped by an estimated 2,000 people.
... By the time she is one, more than 200,000 Russians will have died of
... unnatural causes; almost seven times the estimated civilian deaths in
... Iraq since the war began.
...
... By her 50th birthday, Russia's population could have halved, based on
... current trends. Little does she know it as she lies next to her mother,
... Masha, in a Moscow maternity ward, but Lisa is on the front line of a
... national fight for survival. By Russian standards, she is lucky to have
... made it even this far: last year, there were 1.6 million registered
... abortions in Russia and 1.5 million births.
...
... "The situation is critical," said Vladimir Kulakov, deputy head of
... the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and an adviser to President
... Putin on the demographic crisis. "The most important thing for every
... nation is to have confidence in its future."
...
... Russia's population has been in decline since 1992 due to poor
... medical care, one of the world's least healthy diets, and a national
... weakness for vodka.
...
... Experts say the crisis is reaching a critical level that threatens not
... only its economic development, but its very existence.
...
... According to the Federal Statistics Service, the population of 143
... million could plummet to 77 million by the middle of this century. It
... dropped by almost half a million in the last year alone.
...
... Mr Putin raised the issue in April, calling it a "national crisis",
... but the Government has yet to respond. Mr Putin is now under pressure
... to dip into the Stabilisation Fund, designed to save excess oil
... revenues, to arrest the population decline.
...
... "Everyone says they agree with me and we have to do something, but
... they have yet to take action," said Professor Kulakov. He was among
... the first to highlight the issue in Pravda, the Communist Party
... newspaper, in 1986, but his article fell on deaf ears.
...
... After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he tried to get the Duma to
... provide incentives for families to procreate but conservative
... politicians blocked his proposals. Only now is the Kremlin sitting up
... and listening. Life expectancy for Russian men has dropped to 58.8,
... which is 20 years below the average in Iceland. The main killer is
... heart disease but death by unnatural causes - industrial accidents,
... car crashes, military conflict - comes second, killing 200,000 people
... every year.
...
... "This looks like a battlefield loss rate," said Irina Sbarskaya,
... head of the Federal Statistics Service population department.
...
... Russia's birth rate, meanwhile, has risen slightly as baby-boomers
... from the 1980s reach reproductive age. But it is still way below the
... levels needed to keep the population stable. The result is that Russia
... will not have enough workers to drive its economy by around 2020.
...
... Natalya Rimashevskaya, a population analyst, said: "We have reached a
... point of no return. In terms of numbers there will never be more of us
... than before. But this is not the worst of it. The danger is that we are
... reaching another point of no return, in terms of the quality of the
... population."
...
... That much is already clear from the number of Russian schoolchildren,
... which has dropped by one million a year since 1999, according to the
... Education Ministry.
...
... There are now 5,604 schools in Russia with only ten pupils each. The
... short-term solution is to attract immigrants, especially ethnic
... Russians from former Soviet republics. But an influx of immigrants in
... the 1990s has already triggered a violent xenophobic backlash which
... threatens Russia's social stability.
...
... Over the long term, life expectancy in Russia will gradually improve if
... the Government maintains political stability and economic growth.
...
... The problem comes in trying to increase the birth rate.
...
... According to Professor Kulakov, 10 million Russians are sterile due to
... botched abortions, venereal diseases and exposure to radiation or
... harmful chemicals. Among those who are fertile, as in the West, couples
... are choosing to have fewer children, and later, because of the cost of
... raising them.
...
... The Russian Government pays new mothers a one-off stipend of 8,000
... roubles (£150) and then 500 roubles a month after the first year. But
... that barely covers basic costs.
...
... Masha Petrachkova, 26, and her husband, Aleksei, delayed having
... children in order to finish their studies and save enough money to move
... out of her parents' apartment. She would like a second child, but is
... worried about supporting Lisa.
...
... "We'll see how life goes and we'll try to give Lisa everything
... she wants but it will be hard," she said. "If you don't have the
... financial resources in Russia, then you shouldn't give birth."
...