ORENBURG, December 12 /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that Russia had reduced its maternal and children’s mortality rates.

"We have managed to reach millennium goals (which the United Nations formulated in 2000) in such crucial areas as the reduction of maternal and children’s mortality rates," the prime minister said at a conference devoted to the protection of motherhood and children.

"Russia’s maternal mortality rate has dropped by more than three quarters over the past 25 years since 1990. At present, 10 deaths for every 100,000 newborns are recorded in Russia," the Russian prime minister said.

"Over the said period of time, the under-5 mortality rate has fallen by two-thirds," Medvedev said. "Last year’s infant mortality rate stood at 6.5 cases per a thousand babies who were born alive," the prime minister noted.

He added that figures for the first nine months of 2016 looked even more optimistic. "The infant mortality rate stands at approximately 5.9," Medvedev stressed. "The most important thing is that the lives of thousands of women and children who received medical aid on time authenticate these statistical figures," he added.

The Russian prime minister who used to supervise the implementation of national projects 10 years ago recalled that Russia had not had up-to-date modern perinatal centers at that time. "Today, this program has been carried out throughout the country," Medvedev stressed.

According to him, it is vitally important that all the clinics have modern equipment, most of which is manufactured domestically. "It is not a low-quality substitute but an exceptional competitive replacement," Medvedev added.

The prime minister congratulated all Russians on Constitution Day celebrated on December 12. "Under its fundamental law, Russia is a socially-oriented state, which cares for the lives and health of people, mothers and children and regards this care to be its direct duty," the Russian prime minister concluded.