The life expectancy of Belarusians in 2017 will exceed 74 years, stated the Minister of Health Valery Malashko to journalists, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
The life expectancy of Belarusians in 2017 will exceed 74 years, stated the Minister of Health Valery Malashko to journalists, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
"Positive trends in the development of demographic processes are noted. Based on the results of 2017, the life expectancy of the population of Belarus will exceed 74 years. The trends of the first quarter allow us to state this," said Valery Malashko.
He noted that the successes of healthcare are evident: medical technologies and the public health protection system are developing. The state programme "People's Health and Demographic Security" is being implemented, which includes subprogrammes for the prevention of major socially significant diseases.
At the same time, according to the minister, the prevalence of non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular and oncological ones, causes certain concern. These latter are the main causes of disability and mortality among the population. The reason for this is obvious - risk factors associated with behaviour are still widespread among the population: smoking, irrational nutrition, insufficient physical activity, alcohol consumption.
"Currently, nine out of ten people in the country have one to five major habits detrimental to their health. For example, every second person suffers from health problems related to being overweight. The proportion of smokers is high - almost 30%," said Valery Malashko. He added that to improve the situation, it is necessary, among other things, to pay attention to the informational content of electronic resources that would motivate a healthy lifestyle.