Title: Towards a healthy Russia
Description: The goal of this document is to stimulate state authorities to base policy for health promotion and the prevention of the major noncommunicable diseases (NCD) on intersectoral cooperation, in accordance with Russian Federation's basic legislation on health care for citizens. The analysis of population health in Russia in this document is based on official statistics (average life expectancy, death rates and mortality from various diseases, and mortality structure and trends) and the results of epidemiological studies (levels and prognostic importance of risk factors in NCD development and resulting mortality). The analysis indicates that the population health in Russia is considerably worse than that in most industrialized countries and that its further deterioration should be expected if there are no positive changes in the factors affecting health. A special approach in health promotion and disease prevention should be used for the specific target groups: infants, children and adolescents, the elderly, employees in harmful and dangerous occupational environments, and socially disadvantaged groups.