Russia Healthcare Russia- Healthcare Concerns Term Paper

" (McAdams, 2006) the problem seems top be that healthcare concerns are not very high on the list of priorities of the government of Russia. However, there are reports that doctors in the country are simply not well prepared to perform their function.

III. World's Most Polluted Places

The article entitled "World's Most Polluted Places - Rudnaya Prinstan/Dalnegorsk, Russia" published by the Blacksmith Institute states that: "Dalnegorsk and Rudnaya Pristan are two towns in the Russian Far East whose residents suffer from serious lead poisoning from an old smelter and the unsafe transport of lead concentrate from the local lead mining site. According to the most recent study, lead concentrations in residential gardens (476-4310 mg/kg, Gmean=1626 mg/kg) and in roadside soils (2020-22900 mg/kg, Gmean=4420 mg/kg) exceed USEPA guidance for remediation by orders of magnitude. These data suggest that drinking water, interior dust, and garden crops also likely contain dangerous levels of lead. Water discharged from the smelter averages 2900 m3/day with concentrations up to 100 kg of lead and 20 kg arsenic. Limited initial testing has revealed that children's blood lead levels are 8 to 20 times the maximum allowable U.S. levels. Preliminary biokinetic estimates of mean blood levels suggest that preschool children are at significant risk of lead poisoning from soil/dust ingestion with levels predicted to average 13-27 microg/dl. Annual air emissions found 85 tons of particulate matter with lead and arsenic concentrations being 50 and 0.5 tons, respectively." (Blacksmith Institute, 2005 Annual Report) in fact it has been since 1930 since "any attempt to address associated health concerns" has been demonstrated by any program of the educational or environmental nature.

Summary and Conclusion

Clearly Russia has serious healthcare concerns that must be addressed if the hopes for Russian democracy are to be equaled with the benefits of living in such a democracy in terms of health and welfare relating to the people of Russia. There can be little hope for a wave of foreign investment in a country with so poor a health infrastructure.

Bibliography

U.S. Embassy in Russia (2006) Online available at http://vladivostok.usconsulate.gov/wwwhacsmedemerg.html

World's Worst Polluted Places - Rudnaya Pristan/Delnegorsk, Russia (2005) Blacksmith Institute Annual Report. Online available at http://www.blacksmithinstitute.org/site10j.php

McAdams, Lisa (2006) Russian Readies Radical Health Care Reform - News VOA Online available at http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2006-05/2006-05-01-voa31.cfm

Russian Demographics (2005) Online available at http://www.friends-partners.org/oldfriends/facts/russia.html.

Russian blood bank ordered to pay damages (2006) NewsTrack - Top News 31 Oct 2006

United Press International Online available at http://www.upi.com/NewsTrac k/view.php?StoryID=20-6990.

World's Worst Polluted Places - Rudnaya Pristan/Delnegorsk, Russia (2005) Blacksmith Institute Annual Report. Online available at http://www.blacksmithinstitute.org/site10j.php

Russia Healthcare.....