Infection levels booming among migrants in Russia
Pastor Dale Morgan
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Infection levels booming among migrants in Russia*
22 Feb 2007 14:04:32 GMT
Source: Reuters
MOSCOW, Feb 22 (Reuters) - One in 10 migrant workers in Russia suffer
from either tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS or hepatitis, the health minister
said on Thursday, blaming a lack of health checks.
Health Minister Mikhail Zurabov said a Soviet-era system of health
checks for migrant workers, many of them from Central Asia and other
parts of the former Soviet Union, had all but stopped working in the
past years.
"We were shocked with the numbers," Zurabov was quoted by RIA Novosti
news agency as saying.
"One in 10 of our working migrants suffer from one infectious disease or
another: such as tuberculosis, AIDS and hepatitis," he said, citing
results of a recent investigation.
Zurabov said the ministry was conducting checks among ordinary Russians,
migrants and prisoners to establish the exact nature of the problem and
work out ways of dealing with it.
About 10 million illegal migrants live in Russia. An influx of migrants
since the 1990s has fuelled racism among Russians who often blame them
for rising crime levels and other problems.
Russia's population is falling by 750,000 people a year due to poor diet
and heavy drinking. Infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS are
contributing to the trend which President Vladimir Putin wants to reverse.
Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and other infection levels have risen
dramatically in Russia since the Soviet collapse, mainly among drug
addicts, alcoholics and in the prison population.
Although HIV infection levels are not as high as in sub-Saharan Africa,
health charities say the proportion of infected Russians has nearly
doubled since 2001.
High disease rates are contributing to people's shrinking lifespan,
experts say. Birth rates in Russia are improving but mortality levels
remain high.
The average Russian man lives 58 years in 2005 -- about 17 years shorter
than the average German man.