Russia has the highest mortality rate in Europe among men under the age of 65 years, according to the World Bank.
According to the study, in Russia this figure is 43%, in Ukraine and Belarus it is slightly lower - 40%, in fourth place is Moldova with 37%, in fifth - Lithuania with 36%. Also, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Armenia and Estonia were among the dozen countries with the highest male mortality rates.
The lowest male mortality rate was recorded in Iceland and Switzerland: at the level of 10%. Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands, Malta and Norway also boast a long life expectancy, where the number of men who do not live to 65 years does not exceed 11%. In terms of life expectancy, Iceland, Cyprus, Spain, Great Britain and Luxembourg are in the lead.
World Bank figures are based on the 2017 UN Population Survey, which is based on official country statistics for 2015 and UN proprietary analytics. It is published every two years and will be published next time in 2019.
Causes of high mortality in Russia
RANEPA professor Mikhail Kolontai believes that the situation with male mortality in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus is partly due to the situation in the 90s of the last century.
"The countries left the Soviet economy, went through the difficult nineties, and it is clear that the standard of living of the male population turned out to be much lower than in European countries, in the same Iceland, for example, or in Switzerland, where the indicators are 10 and 11 percent, respectively," - said the expert.
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He noted that several factors affect the life expectancy of men: "GDP, we have it not so high per capita, wealth, access to material benefits that ensure the maintenance of human health are also important, the second factor is the development of medicine." “We cannot say that our medicine is the best in Europe, the third factor is, of course, culture: the culture of consumption and attitudes towards sports, to taking care of one's health,” the expert said.
In his opinion, the culture of food and drink consumption in Russia is lame. “Unfortunately, we have insufficient control over the quality of food, the quality of water and drinks, as well as the environment. As you know, the mortality rate of men is largely determined by the consumption of alcoholic beverages,”the expert explained the indicators of Russia.
Positive outlook
Kolontai noted that the life expectancy of men in Russia is gradually increasing.
“We cannot say that everything is really bad: the general trend is positive, and I see that the government is more and more concerned about the environment in the country and the food market. Hopefully, the government will take food and water control more seriously. Serious decisions are needed here. The population in the regions, especially men, consumes low-quality food. Food control is an important element,”said Kolontay.
The expert added that in large cities, people began to take more care of their health: services related to fitness, as well as health food stores, are developing.
“The economy has emerged from the most difficult situation in which it has been for the last three years, and now there is a slow growth, which will still allow to consolidate the trend associated with the nation's healthier and lower mortality rate among men under 65. In general, the country has already become different, I think that next year will give positive dynamics in reducing the mortality rate of men in all age groups,”the agency's interlocutor summed up.