Russia to test its sickly children

Poor health of Russia's children is largely blamed on their sick mothers

MOSCOW, Russia -- Russia is to carry out a health check on all its 33.5 million children in an attempt to discover why they have become so sickly.

The health of the nation's youth has deteriorated by more than 20 percent since the collapse of the former communist regime, the government said as it launched its campaign on Monday.

A third of army conscripts are deemed unfit to serve while Russia has a mortality rate that is about twice as poor as the United States.

In Soviet times, about half of all newborn children were considered healthy, but that number has shrunk to just 30 percent now, Deputy Health Minister Olga Sharapova was reported by The Associated Press as saying.

An average Russian 18-year-old school graduate now has allergies and two or three other illnesses, most of them in the intestines and nervous systems, Sharapova told a news conference.

Every third conscript is pronounced unfit for military service for health reasons.

The nationwide check-up will continue until mid-December, and will include ultra-sound, biochemical and immune tests.

The results will be used to help the Cabinet reform the nation's cash-strapped pediatric health system.

Low wages blamed

Russia's poor health has had a knock-on effect on its demography. Its population has dropped by 4.3 million since the 1991 Soviet collapse, to about 144 million.

The country's infant mortality rate reached a peak with 20 deaths per 1,000 births in 1993, then dropped to 14.7 per 1,000 births last year. This compares with the U.S. rate in 2000 of seven in 1,000 infants dying before their first birthday.

Health treatment has been compounded by low wages for those working in the sector. Take home pay for doctors is on average the equivalent of $100 per month.

The deterioration of the public health system combined with broad poverty has left an increasing number of women with illnesses that affect their newborn children.

"The main cause for the decline in children's health is the extremely high number of sick women," Sharapova said. "A sick mother can't deliver a healthy child."

Another cause for reproductive problems has been the increase in the number of youngsters having sex.

"Children begin sexual life as early as 14 or 12 years of age, and that increases the number of sexually-transmitted diseases affecting reproduction," Sharapova said.

Russia has the world's highest abortion rate, with two of three pregnancies ending in abortion. In 2000, about 10 percent of those who had abortions were aged 19 and younger.

Alexander Tsaregorodtsev, Russia's chief pediatrician, said the increase in the number of illnesses among older children could be explained in part by the spread of modern techniques such as ultra-sound that were rare in Soviet times.

"We have yet to figure out whether we have a rise in illnesses or just better diagnostics," he said.