Tag: Health

Trying to please: The NGO checks are not just political – they are also busy work in action

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Russia

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – April 29, 2013) Anna Arutunyan is an editor and correspondent at themoscownews.com As the head of an organization that helps people suffering from cystic fibrosis, an incurable genetic disorder that affects the lungs, Olga Alekina, of the Aid to Patients with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, wasn’t exactly daunted when prosecutors demanded an explanation for […]

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Russia’s Smoking Ban to Save 200,000 Lives a Year – Medvedev

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
No Smoking Symbol

(RIA Novosti – GORKI, Moscow Region, April 24, 2013) ­ New legislation banning smoking in public places could save up to 200,000 lives annually in Russia, which has some of the highest rates of smoking in the world, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday. “I hope that it [anti-smoking law] will contribute to reducing this factor [smoking],” Medvedev said […]

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Life expectancy in Moscow surpasses certain EU states – health dept

Europe, EU, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Crowd of Russians

(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 9, 2013) Mortality rates in Moscow have declined by practically every parameter thanks to the modernization of city healthcare in 2011-2012, city health department head Georgy Golukhov said at a city government meeting on Tuesday. “The death rate from external causes decreased by 25% in the reporting period; the death rate from respiratory disorders went down […]

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Russians more willing to exercise – poll

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Sports, Olympics, World Cup
Football - Soccer File Photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 9, 2013) Physical education and sport in Russia have improved over the past seven years in the eyes of respondents polled by the Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM). The percentage of positive opinions grew from 42% to 59%. The negative opinions declined from 44% to 30%, VTsIOM told Interfax. The majority of positive opinions were […]

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They’re right here: Autism in Russia

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Disabilities, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Kristen Blyth – April 8, 2013) A few years ago, an autistic boy named Anton wrote an essay about life. “People rush. People swear,” it reads. “Now happy. Now serious. People bang and rattle. They’re not shaggy. They get lost. Ginger. Deep. They skin things. People renovate houses and barns. People will endure a bit […]

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Life Expectancy in Russia Declines as Mini-‘Baby Boom’ Ends, Rosstat Says

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Population Disaster, Demographics
File Photo of Crowd of Russians

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, April 4, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/04/window-on-eurasia-life-expectancy-in.html) For the first time in a decade, life expectancy at birth in the Russian Federation has declined, the Russian state statistical agency says, and while the decline was small, demographers say that it reflects a disturbing trend, one that also includes the end of the much-ballyhooed mini-“baby […]

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Low Life Expectancy Continues To Plague Former Soviet Countries

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
Chest X-Ray of Tuberculosis Patient file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Eugen Tomiuc – April 2, 2013) More than two decades after the fall of communism, most former Soviet countries still have mortality rates significantly higher than those in Western Europe. Cardiovascular disease, high infant-mortality rates, infectious diseases, and a decrease in the quality and financing of public health-care systems were the main factors driving the trend, […]

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Afghan heroin claims over 1 mln lives since NATO operation began in 2001 – Russian drug control chief

Afghanistan, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
Map of Afghanistan and Environs

(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 3, 2013) Over one million people have died from Afghan heroin in the world since 2001 and the NATO operation against drug production in Afghanistan is ineffective, Russian Federal Drug Control Service Chief Viktor Ivanov said. “Since the 2000s, since the beginning of the Enduring Freedom operation in 2001, over one million people have died from […]

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New Russian laws: no chance of a drink or a smoke

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
No Smoking Symbol

(opendemocracy.net – Mikhail Loginov – March 21, 2013) Mikhail Loginov is a journalist and novelist based in St Petersburg. He is the author of the recently published bestselling political thriller “Battle for Kremlin”. Throughout Russia’s history its rulers have attempted to curtail the consumption of alcohol and/or tobacco. Gorbachev had little success in the 1980s; will this year’s new laws […]

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Dependence on Western Medicine Worries Government

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Russia & the West
HIV Infection Microscopic Photo of Cells

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – March 21, 2013) Health officials are complaining that Russia is becoming increasingly dependent on the West for medical supplies and top-flight treatment, as a growing number of Russians choose overseas clinics over state medical care. Health  Minister Veronika Skvortsova told regional health authorities on Wednesday that instead of traveling either abroad or […]

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Russia: A Teenage Suicide Epidemic?

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
File Photo of U.S. Diplomat Teaching Class to Russian Students

(opendemocracy.net – Yelena Vorobyova – March 13, 2013) Yelena Vorobyova is a journalist from Bryansk, Russia Russia has the highest underage suicide rate in Europe. Yelena Vorobyova reports from the Bryansk region, where 10 children have taken their own lives in as many months. Masha says, ‘We can still be friends’. Masha sends hundreds of smiley faces on social networking […]

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Russia Has Biggest Child Suicide Rate in Europe

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Europe, EU, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
File Photo of U.S. Diplomat Teaching Class to Russian Students

MOSCOW. March 11 (Interfax) – Russia has the biggest child suicide rate in Europe, the Rospotrebnadzor website reported on Monday. “Russia has the highest suicide rate among children and teens in Europe. The rate has grown by 35%-37% in the recent years. In all, Russia reported about 800,000 suicides from 1990 to 2010,” it said. The child suicide rate continues […]

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Why Russians are sobering up

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Population Disaster, Demographics
Shelf of Alcoholic Beverages with Red and White Tape Across It

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Ben Aris, special to RBTH – March 11, 2013) Russians’ legendary capacity for hard drinking is finally being challenged ­ by a changing work ethic and a Kremlin crackdown. Faced with Russia’s alarming demographic decline, the government is getting serious about tackling the country’s legendary love of strong liquor. This January, stiff new […]

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Life Expectancy in Russia Is Stagnant, Study Says

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Two Elders Walking Outdoors

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – March 6, 2013) Russia saw virtually no increase in life expectancy from 1990 to 2010 and lagged behind more than 100 countries in the key health statistic over that period, according to a global study released Tuesday. The study, called the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2010, says that while global life […]

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US Fast Food Chains Banking on Russian Bellies

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
File Photo of Russian McDbnald's Crew with U.S. Diplomat

WASHINGTON, February 25 (By Sasha Horne for RIA Novosti) ­ The Kremlin has moved aggressively in recent months to stifle US influence on its domestic politics, but America’s fast-food footprint continues to grow across Russia’s nine time zones. Iconic US eatery McDonald’s has announced it could widen its presence from Russia’s western exclave of Kaliningrad to eastern Siberia in a […]

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Federation Council Passes Anti-Smoking Bill

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Federation Council file photo

MOSCOW, February 20 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, approved a bill on Wednesday banning smoking in public places. The ban, which takes effect on June 1, was passed by 125 votes. Four senators voted against the bill and six abstained. The State Duma, the parliament’s lower house, passed the bill in its third and […]

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Most Russians support anti-smoking law – poll

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
No Smoking Symbol

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Aleksandras Budrys – February 20, 2013) Most Russians support measures aimed at restricting the advertising, sale and use of tobacco products contained in the new bill passed by both houses of parliament, but are divided about its outcome, a poll run by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) showed on Wednesday. It showed 79 […]

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Puff, puff, pass a smoking ban

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
No Smoking Symbol

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Kristen Blyth – February 18, 2013) Making a smoking section at a restaurant, as comedian George Carlin once put it, is like designating a urinating section in a swimming pool. The two are not separate, whether you like it or not. In Russia, a country where about 39 percent of people are regular smokers, coming […]

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Russian Infant Mortality Up 20% in 2012 – Health Ministry

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
File Photo of Three Babies from pravda.ru

MOSCOW, February 14 (RIA Novosti) – The infant mortality rate in Russia was 8.7 per 1,000 newborns last year, Health Ministry department chief Yelena Baibarina said on Thursday. “I have cited data from the Russian Federal State Statistics Service. During the 12 months of 2012, infant mortality rate reached 8.7,” she told a congress of pediatricians. Infant mortality in 2011 […]

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Russian Parliament Passes Anti-Smoking Bill

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
No Smoking Symbol

MOSCOW, February 12 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, on Tuesday approved a bill banning smoking in public places in its third and final reading. The ban, which takes effect on June 1, was passed by a 441 to one vote. The Duma passed the anti-smoking bill in a second reading on January 25. It […]

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Russians fear aging more than repression – poll

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Alina Lobzina – February 12, 2013) Russians have nearly lost their fear of returning to Stalinism while old age and helplessness scare them more, a recent poll showed. The number of those concerned over a new wave of Stalin-era repression, anarchy, and civil wars has shrunk by nine times and 6.5 times respectively in comparison […]

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Russia: Worst Crackdown Since Soviet Era; Government Should Stop Pressure, Reprisals on Civil Society

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

From: “HRW Press” <hrwpress@hrw.org> Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2013 Subject: Russia: Worst Crackdown Since Soviet Era For Immediate Release Russia: Worst Crackdown Since Soviet Era Government Should Stop Pressure, Reprisals on Civil Society (Moscow, January 31, 2013) ­ The Kremlinn in 2012 unleashed the worst political crackdown in Russia’s post-Soviet history, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report […]

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Russia adopts major bill to ban smoking in public places

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
No Smoking Symbol

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Olga Doronina – January 31, 2013) On Jan. 25, the State Duma adopted an “anti-tobacco” bill that will ban smoking in public places, cigarette sales at kiosks and smoking scenes in films and cartoons. Most Russians oppose a total ban on smoking in public places, but smokers will have less than a year […]

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‘Millionaire’ Doctors Part of Solution to Demographic Problem

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Population Disaster, Demographics
File Photo of Russian Expectant Couple with Mother in Hospital Bed

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – January 28, 2013) A total of 8,000 doctors in Russia became ruble millionaires over the last two years, as the government seeks to attract young specialists to rural areas to upgrade the quality of medical services, Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said Friday. The government provided 1 million rubles ($33,300) in financial support […]

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Russia Weakens Anti-Smoking Law Before Key Second Reading

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
No Smoking Symbol

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer & Stepan Kravchenko – January 24, 2013) Russia weakened a proposed law aimed at cracking down on smoking in the world’s second-largest tobacco market before a key vote on the legislation tomorrow. While the bill keeps a ban on smoking in public places, it drops restrictions on cigarette sales and the right to set […]

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Russian Doctors Troubled by Growing TB Infection Rate

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
Chest X-Ray of Tuberculosis Patient file photo

VLADIVOSTOK, January 24 (RIA Novosti) ­ Doctors are concerned about the rising number of Russians infected with tuberculosis (TB). This number has more than doubled over the past 15 years, a senior healthcare official said on Thursday. “Russia ranks 13th on the list of countries with the highest tuberculosis infection rate. There are over 240,000 patients with active forms of […]

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Russians Doubt Public Smoking Ban – Poll

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
No Smoking Symbol

MOSCOW, January 17 (RIA Novosti) – Most Russians do not support the government’s move to impose a complete ban on smoking in public places and believe the emphasis should be on helping smokers quit, a pollster said on Thursday. The State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, is to consider the anti-smoking bill in its second reading on January 25. […]

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State Finds Cure for Hangover

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
Shelf of Alcoholic Beverages with Red and White Tape Across It

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Roland Oliphant – January 15, 2013) The Health Ministry’s chief narcologist, Yevgeny Bryun, warned Monday that it would take a month for many Russians to recover from the excesses of New Year’s celebrations. “Long holidays are in any event bad. Long-term abuse of alcohol is always bad; it has chronic toxic impacts, the effects of […]

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Russia’s Global Health Engagement

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
HIV Infection Microscopic Photo of Cells

(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Kurt Hepler – November 5, 2012) Meeting Report “The story of Russia’s engagement in global health ­and in international development assistance more broadly­begins many decades ago,” remarked Judyth Twigg, Professor and Chair, Program in Political Science and International Studies, L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University; and Director, Eurasia Health […]

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Moscow’s Top Shrink Proposes Doomsday Censorship

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
Mayan Temple file photo

MOSCOW, December 18 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow’s top psychiatrist backed on Tuesday a recent bid to legislate human emotion by imposing a limit on “negative information” in the media, starting with Apocalypse rumors. Reports about the upcoming doomsday and other soul-crushing news breed hopelessness and increase depression and suicide rates, said Boris Tsygankov, who supervises psychiatric help at the city’s […]

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Coping With Cancer: Patients Struggle in Faulty State System

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
Map of Russia

(Moscow TImes – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – Dec. 18, 2012) When Maria Gritsai was diagnosed with late-stage cervical cancer, she didn’t spend much time grieving. She knew she had to act fast. With the support of her husband and son, she turned to the Blokhin Cancer Center, one of Russia’s best oncology hospitals, where the diagnosis was confirmed. Doctors […]

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Russians outweigh most Europeans in obesity rankings

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
EU Map

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Alina Lobzina – Dec. 11, 2012) Obesity has become a problem for over 25 percent of Russia’s population, head of the Nutrition Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences said on Tuesday. After an annual examination of 1,500 people across the country, dieticians found that 55 percent of Russians had problems with excessive weight, Viktor […]

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Rumors about Putin’s back are highly exaggerated, president’s ability to work unaffected – Peskov

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Desk

MOSCOW. Nov 30 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to participate in sports as usual and the rumors about his back problems do not affect his ability to work, the president’s press officer Dmitry Peskov said. “We continue working and intends to continue working in the same mode. He has no intention of giving up sports. Like any sportsman, […]

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AIDS spreading by leaps and bounds in Russia – AIDS center chief

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
HIV Infection Microscopic Photo of Cells

MOSCOW. Nov 28 (Interfax) – AIDS is spreading in Russia at a fast and accelerating pace, with more than 60,000 cases registered this year and about 70,000 people expected to pick the virus in 2013, the head of the national IDS center said on Wednesday. “About 20,000 have died (of AIDS) this year, and this is not the definitive number […]

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Putin to Travel After 2 Months at Home

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Desk

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – November 27, 2012) President Vladimir Putin is visiting Turkey and Turkmenistan next week, signaling that he is fit for travel again after a two-month hiatus that raised speculation about his health. Putin is expected to meet Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gül during a half-day working visit […]

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Putin Health Confusion Sparks Investor Concern

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Desk

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer and Jason Corcoran – November 16, 2012) Russian government reticence to discuss President Vladimir Putin’s health issues is adding to investor concern about the lack of transparency in a country that’s losing $80 billion a year in capital flight. The Russian leader canceled or postponed five foreign trips over more than a month, including […]

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Rights activists says torture still used in Russia

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Russian Jail File Photo Showing Outer Wall, Windows, Barbed Wire

(Interfax – Moscow, 8 November) According to human rights activists, torture is still practiced in Russia and people complain of ill-treatment received at detention centres, police, army and mental hospitals. “Human rights organizations have registered incidents of torture and ill-treatment in the prison system. They have also seen an increase in complaints in recent years. Tortures in remand centres are […]

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Jim Beam Didn’t Get Putin Memo as Whiskey Eyes Russians

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Shelf of Alcoholic Beverages with Red and White Tape Across It

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Duane D. Stanford – November 5, 2012) Beam Inc. (BEAM) wants more vodka-imbibing Russians to drink Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark whiskey. Apparently Vladimir Putin didn’t get the memo. In a campaign to help his people live longer, Russia’s president is pushing the biggest crackdown on alcohol since the cold war. That could complicate Beam’s efforts […]

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Russia Faces ‘Battle’ Over Anti-Smoking Bill

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
No Smoking Symbol

MOSCOW, October 18 (Dan Peleschuk, RIA Novosti)-The Cabinet of Ministers’ unanimous approval Thursday of a controversial anti-smoking bill was the latest salvo in the debate over how to tackle Russia’s tobacco addiction. As a result, some government officials are preparing for what they say will be a “battle” with Russia’s powerful tobacco lobby. “We will face an enormous amount of […]

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A good death

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Human Rights
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova – October 15, 2012) For terminally ill patients in Russia, dying with dignity is often not an option, as many doctors still reject the notion that improving the quality of life of a dying patient must be prioritized. Yet more and more people, despairing at seeing loved ones suffer needlessly, have called for […]

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Curing Homosexuality in Russia and Ukraine

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Russia and European Region of Former Soviet Union or Commonwealth of Independent States

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – Leonid Bershidsky, an editor and novelist, is Moscow and Kiev correspondent for World View – October 10, 2012) Forget gay marriage. In Russia and Ukraine, politicians are treating homosexuality like a curable addiction — and even a crime. Last week, acting on a widespread popular belief that sexual orientation is a matter of […]

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A Long Painful Death: Why Russia Is A Bad Place to be Terminally Ill

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Human Rights
Map of Russia

Natalia Antonova is the deputy editor of The Moscow News. (RIA Novosti – Natalia Antonova – October 8, 2012) When the tragic details of the final days of Russian bard Ada Yakusheva emerged on Facebook ­ I was stunned. I had heard that Yakusheva was battling cancer, but what I hadn’t realized is that her doctors had denied her pain […]

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