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Russia Today
27-03-2025
- Health
- Russia Today
Russia hits lowest infant mortality rate
Russia has achieved a historically low rate of infant mortality due to the advancement of the maternal and childcare system in the country, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishutsin has announced. Addressing the State Duma on Wednesday, Mishustin said almost all newborns now receive comprehensive neonatal screening. Over the past two years, the tests have been expanded to cover 40 conditions instead of just five. 'Today, the infant mortality rate in the country is the lowest in the entire history of Russia and the Soviet Union,' the prime minister said. 'Behind these words are thousands of babies, at the right moment, received life-saving care from highly skilled doctors and were given the chance to live.' The modernization of pediatric medical institutions is ongoing in Russia as part of national health and demography projects, Mishustin noted. He added that over 20 hospitals have been put into operation across the country under national projects, and almost all existing clinics have been upgraded with state-of-the-art equipment. READ MORE: Abortion rate in Russia falls 3.5-fold in decade – Health Ministry Like many other countries, Russia is faced with a decline in birth rates, and is now developing a system that encompasses healthcare, childhood, and maternity. Late last year, President Vladimir Putin emphasized the importance of increasing birth rates, describing it as one of the 'key issues for Russia.' The country has introduced financial support programs for families, including lump-sum payments for childbirth and expanded maternity benefits. The government has also revived the Soviet-era 'Mother Heroine' award, which provides financial incentives for women who have given birth to or raised ten or more children. Additionally, officials have discussed policies such as restricting the promotion of so-called 'child-free' lifestyles and potential tax incentives for families with multiple children.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Why we shouldn't let lower fertility rates fuel pronatalist policies
Buried in the Donald Trump administration's recent avalanche of executive orders in the United States was a starkly revealing provision: A Department of Transportation order requiring projects to prioritize federal highway and transit funding to communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average. Those with declining birth and marriage rates could face funding cuts. In my work as a planetary health researcher, I understand the complex dynamics between reproductive rights, population dynamics and environmental sustainability. This new executive order has me worried. Accounting for demographic trends is indeed fundamental when planning for a country's infrastructure and transportation needs. But this executive order has nothing to do with sound infrastructure planning. Rather, it reflects the Trump administration's ideological shift towards mainstreaming 'pronatalist' policies across sectors far beyond reproductive rights and healthcare. Pronatalism is a political ideology that seeks to increase birth rates with policies that encourage people to have more children. Pronatalism can be motivated by cultural, religious, geopolitical or economic imperatives. Pronatalist policies can manifest in many ways. These could range from soft measures (such as stigmatizing those who choose not to have children) to hard measures (such as restricting access to contraception. The shift towards pronatalist policy is not unique to the United States. Worldwide, governments are reacting to demographic shifts with alarm, introducing measures to incentivize childbirth. However, these measures fail to acknowledge that the global population is actually still increasing. For example, Poland and South Korea both offer cash transfers for babies. Russia revived the Stalin-era 'Mother Heroine' award for women who have 10 children in less than 10 years. China has replaced its anti-natalist 'one-child policy' with an aggressive pronatalist regime — clamping down on vasectomies and tracking menstrual cycles. Until recently, high infant and child mortality rates meant having many children was essential for maintaining stable populations. But advances in healthcare, sanitation and living standards have significantly reduced mortality rates. This has caused a decline in fertility rates which has reshaped the role of reproduction in modern societies. Yet many countries view this demographic shift with concern. These fears are largely rooted in cultural, economic and political motivations — fuelling a rise in pronatalist policies globally. But population policies that prioritize demographic targets over reproductive autonomy — a person's power to make their own reproductive choices — have repeatedly led to devastating consequences. For example, until 1989, Romania's communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu enforced strict pronatalist policies. Abortions were banned, contraception was restricted and women were subjected to invasive pregnancy surveillance. Those without children faced punitive taxation. These measures led to a surge in unsafe abortions, high maternal mortality, overcrowded orphanages and lasting social trauma. Pronatalist policies also seem to go against what most people want. Across cultures and religions, people overwhelmingly seek to control their fertility when given the choice. Research also shows that when women have access to education and contraception, they tend to choose smaller families. Alarmist narratives about falling fertility rates distract from a more personal reality as well: that half of all pregnancies worldwide are unintended. Pronatalist policies thus appear to go against the advancement of reproductive autonomy. Pronatalist narratives also undermine efforts to reduce humanity's impact on the environment. Population size and growth are both major drivers of environmental degradation and climate change. Embracing the lower fertility rates we're seeing could help drive transformative changes needed to ease pressure on natural resources, shrink greenhouse gas emissions and ensure a more sustainable future. The world's population is expected to grow by an additional two billion people in the coming decades. But we don't actually know how many people the planet can sustainably support. Its carrying capacity is not a fixed measure. It's contingent upon technological advancements, consumption patterns, economic structures and the ever-evolving interactions between humans and the environment. Some ecological economists have even calculated that in order for everyone to have a reasonable standard of living, a truly sustainable global population would be around around 3.2 billion people. Although these estimates are far from certain, what's clear is that a smaller global population would improve our chances to restore balance. The fear of population decline and push for pronatalist policies obscures the critical fact that we have yet to address the consequences of the rapid population growth we've experienced since the 1950s. Environmental degradation and climate change have both been driven in large part by this rapid growth. A major argument pronatalists use is that a shrinking population will lead to economic decline. This reasoning is outdated — rooted in economic models that assume perpetual growth and ignore ever-pressing planetary boundaries. While it's clear that an ageing society presents challenges, lower birth rates don't necessarily mean lower living standards. On the contrary, a smaller population can be conducive to labour productivity and fairer wealth distribution. The past two centuries of explosive economic and population growth were an anomaly in human history. The idea that we must endlessly expand is a modern fiction — not a historical norm. We're now entering 'the age of depopulation' — a period characterized by lower fertility levels, and, in time, population decline. We must prepare and embrace this shift instead of trying to reverse it. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organisation bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Céline Delacroix, L'Université d'Ottawa/University of Ottawa Read more: Trad wives hearken back to an imagined past of white Christian womanhood Demography and reproductive rights are environmental issues: Insights from sub-Saharan Africa Fiction about abortion confronts the complicated history of gender, sexuality and women's rights Céline Delacroix is a Senior Fellow with the Population Institute (USA).
Russia Today
11-02-2025
- Health
- Russia Today
Abortion rate in Russia falls by 350% in a decade
The number of abortions in Russia has decreased by more than 3.5 times over the past decade, according to data released by the Health Ministry on Tuesday. Officials have linked the trend to policy measures, including financial incentives for families, restrictions on abortion, and support for larger households and regional cooperation aimed at improving birth rates in the country. Elena Sheshko, Director of the Department of Medical Care for Children, Maternity Services, and Public Health at the Health Ministry, stated that 'Over the past ten years, we have seen a more than 3.5-fold reduction in the number of abortions. This is a key factor in supporting birth rates,' she said. Abortions in Russia remain legal and are available on request up to the 12th week of pregnancy, with exceptions for medical and social reasons. However, the government has implemented measures to discourage the procedure, including mandatory waiting periods and counselling. Lawmakers have proposed additional policies, such as requiring private clinics to report abortion statistics and integrating abortion procedures into the Mandatory Health Insurance system to improve oversight. Some politicians have suggested further restrictions, but proposals for an outright ban have not gained significant traction. READ MORE: Nothing is more important than love and children — Putin Russia has introduced financial support programs for families, including lump-sum payments for childbirth and expanded maternity benefits while the government has also revived the Soviet-era 'Mother Heroine' award, which provides financial incentives for women who have given birth or raised ten or more children. Additionally, officials have discussed policies such as restricting the promotion of so-called 'child-free' lifestyles and potential tax incentives for families with multiple children. Late last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin also emphasized the importance of increasing birth rates, stating that it is 'an extremely important matter' and one of the 'key issues for Russia.' In order to reach the replacement fertility rate, 'we need 2.1 children per woman, and at least 2.3 for our population to grow.' Currently, Russia's fertility rate stands at 1.41 children per woman. 'We are developing a system that encompasses healthcare, childhood, and maternity, and we will continue to do everything to improve these programs,' Putin said, outlining the measures taken by the Russian government to reverse the trend.
