WHO and its Regional Office for Europe, together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), conducted an initial data collection mission in the Russian Federation to develop an investment case on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). The study will seek to quantify the social and economic costs of NCDs for the country’s economy and to identify the most cost-effective interventions at the national level.
According to the latest data, NCDs cause more than 1.6 million deaths in Russia each year. Thirty-seven percent of adults in Russia use tobacco and over 18 percent are physically inactive. Daily salt intake, estimated at 11 grams per day, exceeds the WHO recommended levels more than twice, and the average alcohol intake among adults is higher than average for Europe, with 12 liters of pure alcohol per capita consumption per year.
The prevention and control of NCDs is prioritized in the national project “Demography”, as well as in the strategic goals under the Presidential Decree No. 204 of 2018, aiming to reduce premature mortality from major NCDs, with a priority on cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
There are sound examples where Russian Federation is leading the way. In recent years, Russia has made important changes in its tobacco control policy, banning smoking in public places, and prohibiting advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products. As a result, the prevalence of smoking is estimated to have decreased by an impressive 21 percent in the past seven years, while the prevalence of exposure to second-hand smoke decreased by 27 percent. Measures have also been taken to promote physical activity, leading to an 18 percent increase in the past four years in the number of people practicing sports.
To build on the above successes, experts from the Ministry of Health and from the UN Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of NCDs held meetings in Moscow this week to agree on the study objectives and methodology, and to define a blueprint for joint work on data collection, economic analysis and finalization of the NCD investment case report.
Further work will focus on analyzing the economic and social implications of NCD policies and identifying the most cost-effective interventions based on the WHO “Best Buys”, which if implemented significantly reduce NCD-related mortality and morbidity. Preliminary estimates suggest that implementing these interventions could save more than half a million lives in Russia by 2025.
A special component on mental health will be included in the next phase of the analysis.
Once finalized, the findings of the Investment Case report for Russia will be presented to the Government to encourage a whole-of government and whole-of-society response to NCDs. The UN and national partners agreed to present the results of the case at the Third All-Russian Forum on Public Health in October 2019 in Moscow.