December 14, 2005

Global Health Seminar and Lecture Series
The Russian Mortality Crisis
Dr. Marya Levintova

By Lutz Wong, Global Health Sciences

Dr. Marya Levintova presented a seminar about the mortality crisis currently occurring in Russia, particularly Russian working-age men. Stress, reforms, a poor healthcare system and addictions such as smoking and alcohol consumption play a large role in this increasing mortality rate.

Because of socioeconomic and economic problems, non-communicable diseases and injuries continue to claim more lives each year. While other countries continue to enjoy increased life expectancies, the life span for both men and women continues to drop, with the rate for men dropping considerably more each year. “After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia experienced an unprecedented loss of human lives in peace time in over 100 years with current mortality rates exceeding births by about 700,000 individuals annually,” stated Dr. Levintova.

Alcohol is a contributing factor to this crisis, causing liver cirrhosis, vehicle accidents, injuries, homicide and suicide. Russia has one of the highest suicide rates in the world at 43 for every 100,000, and the highest rate of alcohol-related deaths from injuries and accidents in Eastern and Western Europe. According to Bobak, McKee, Rose, et al,, 31% of men and 3% of women consume approximately 25cl of alcohol at least once a month. “While the overall levels of alcohol consumption appeared low, possibly due to under-reporting, the proportion of men who can be considered as "binge drinkers" was relatively high,” stated Dr. Levintova.

The Russian government is currently putting several legislative efforts into effect to help control this crisis. Healthcare reforms, passed in 1993, focused primarily on the decentralization and the development of a new infrastructure of healthcare conditions as well as the rights of both consumers of healthcare and medical providers. In 2001, the government regulated the sales, production, advertising, etc. of tobacco, raised the age of tobacco use to 18 years old and prohibited tobacco sales and smoking in various locations in Russia. Increased regulation of alcohol was implemented in 2005-2006. The regulation focused on beverages that contained more than .5% of ethyl alcohol, restricting sales, age, and consumption. Advertisement restrictions have also been proposed regarding time, venue, image enhancement and the use of cartoons; however, this restriction currently lacks monitoring and enforcement.

Dr. Levintova concluded, “The future politics and economics of Russia and the states of Eurasia affect global and regional security issues such as terrorist networks and resources, international markets for energy and national resources, transnational crime and drugs, proliferation of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, the global spread of HIV/AIDS, and the future of international institutions such as NATO and the EU.”

Dr. Marya Levintova is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). After immigrating to the United States from the Soviet Union in 1989, she graduated from the Alliant University/California School of Professional Psychology with a degree in Clinical Psychology. Dr. Levintova prior work was in the area of cancer prevention and control, in particular quality of life studies. Her current research involves tobacco control policy, non-communicable disease prevention and health promotion focusing on Russia and the Newly Independent States.

Information about her Fullbright Scholar Award can be found in the News Archive.