Governor Alexey Ostrovskiy held a working meeting on the development of demography in the region

Governor Alexey Ostrovskiy held a meeting on the development of demography in Smolensk region at the new Perinatal Center.

The Head of the region pointed out that the place for discussing this topical issue had not been chosen by chance:

“I hope that opening this healthcare institution, ultra-modern and long-awaited in the region, and improving the quality of obstetric services will lead to significant betterment of the demographic situation in Smolensk region. The new Perinatal Center has unique equipment and highly qualified specialists and more than seven hundred kids have already been born here.

I consider it to be fundamentally important that here pregnant women can be observed online regardless of where they live. This in the direct sense of the word allows to feel the pulse and to react quickly, providing exit assistance when necessary.”

Alexey Ostrovskiy said that, in his opinion, special attention should be paid to activities aimed at protecting children’s lives, and above all, preventing abortions.

“This is not only a medical problem, but also a serious social issue. Popularizing traditional family values ​​and childbirth, educational activities of various charity foundations and non-profit organizations, carrying out social and cultural activities at the municipal and regional levels are of great importance here. An example of such an activity can be the March for Life, held annually in Smolensk region," - the Governor stressed.

The Head of the region said that in accordance with the strategic initiatives of President Vladimir Putin and the new assignments of the Head of State presented in the Address to the Federal Assembly, the Government has developed a number of measures contributing to support of the institution of family, motherhood and childhood, improvement of the demographic situation and increasing the well-being of the Russian citizens.

“In their turn, the regional authorities, civil society institutions, industry institutions and organizations should not only actively participate in the implementation of the national projects, but also ensure their maximum efficiency. This is our duty to the citizens, to the residents of Smolensk region," - emphasized Alexey Ostrovskiy.

The Governor noted that demographic situation in the Central Federal District has deteriorated in all the regions, except Moscow and Moscow Region.

Alexey Ostrovskiy addressed the meeting participants with a request to find a solution to this problem using the competencies of the social block of the regional Administration:

“The demographic situation in our region is not the worst one, but we should not be glad that others’ results are worse than ours. It is really important to find out why the situation is deteriorating. On the one hand, infant mortality tends to decrease. The Perinatal Center is also aimed to improve these indicators. Social support measures are being provided. We are doing the routing. But, on the other hand, this does not improve the situation much,” the Governor stressed.

The officials of the regional Administration in charge of the social sector named the main reasons for the demographic situation deteriorating in the region today.

“This is a general decline in the number of men and women of reproductive age, as well as a low birth rate in the 1990s - so-called demographic “collapse”, the results of which we are unfortunately experiencing now. The second reason is an increase in the average age for marriage: 25-34 years old now, until 2013 it was 18-24 years old. As a result, people have children at a later age. The third reason is the outflow of young people to other regions, such as Moscow and St. Petersburg, and the fourth is labor migration.”

It was noted that all these factors are applicable not only to Smolensk region, but also to the all regions of the Russian Federation.

Elena Voitova, the head of the Healthcare Department, stressed that as a part of implementing the national projects, great attention is paid to preventive work with the younger generation:

“We need to start working with young children, with schoolchildren, orient them towards a healthy lifestyle, and form the right behavioral attitudes towards birth of children. We are going to actively develop these preventive activities. There is something to work on at all the levels: from primary care sector to such institutions as the Perinatal Center.”

At the moment, the effective methods of such preventive education are being designed in the framework of the "Demography" and "Healthcare" national projects.

In addition to discussing the topical social issues in the region, on the eve of March 8, Alexey Ostrovskiy took the opportunity and congratulated the patients of the Center, who today went home with their newborn babies.