In Q1 2008, death rate didn’t exceed birthrate in Belarus, Viktor Rudenko says
For the first time in the past twenty years the urban death rate in Belarus did not exceed the birthrate for the three months 2008, Deputy Health Minister of Belarus Viktor Rudenko said at a meeting of the permanent seminar a the Belarus-Russia Union State PA “Medicine and longevity in the Union State”.
According to the deputy minister, it is not by accident that the topic of today’s hearings is demographic security, the most important problem of the Union State. To resolve the problem the two states have been taking unprecedented measures, among them are the national government programmes in healthcare.
Viktor Rudenko said that in 2008 Br167 billion will be assigned for the national demographic security programme in Belarus. The measures which have been taken within the framework of the programme have yielded positive results. Since 2006 the birthrate has been raising while the mortality rate has been reducing. The average lifespan of the Belarusians is 69 years.
