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Abortions in Russia dropped fourfold since 2000s — health minister

The number of abortions peaked at the beginning of the 2000s

Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova Donat Sorokin/TASS

Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova

© Donat Sorokin/TASS

SOCHI, December 4. /TASS/. The number of medical abortions in Russia has dropped nearly fourfold since the 2000s, from two million to 560,000 per year, Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said in Sochi on Wednesday.

"The number of abortions peaked at the beginning of the 2000s. Then, more than two million terminations were made annually against current 560,000. We have made them drop four times. We are happy that about 100,000 babies are [born] through in vitro fertilization (IVF)," the minister said.

According to Skvortsova, over the past 15 years, about 1,500 centers of social and psychological assistance to pregnant women were set up at maternity clinics and hospitals, which helps to reduce the number of abortions among other factors.

The Demography national project for 2019-2024 consists of five federal projects: ‘Financial support for families with newborn children,’ ‘Support for female employment,’ ‘Older generation,’ ‘Public health promotion’ and ‘Sport as a norm of lifestyle.’ The project will receive 3.1 trillion rubles ($482 billion) in the next six years.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova oversees the National Project headed by Labor Minister Maxim Topilin. According to the National Project, at least 450,000 IVF procedures are planned for the next six years, funded from the mandatory medical insurance.

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