Abstract

Variation of avoidable mortality in Russia and its relation to socio-economic conditions was analysed using official mortality data. Avoidable mortality in 2009 was 538.6 on 100 000 population for men and 177.4 for women, it is much more that in Europe. In age group 5–64 years avoidable deaths comprise 56.4% of all deaths (PP rate) for men and 53.3% of all deaths for women, varying among Russian regions from 45.4% to 69.3% and from 40.0% to 68.8% for men and women. 79.3% of avoidable deaths among Russian men is determined by the first group of causes of death related to primary prevention (M1); 0.4% is determined by the group of causes related to early diagnosis (M2); 20.3% is determined by the group of causes related to the quality of healthcare (M3). For women, these percentages are 67.6, 14.9 and 17.6 respectively. The highest and the lowest M1 are 34.7% and 59.8% for men, 19.5% and 56.7% for women. The lowest M2 are 0.001% for men 2.4% and for women, the highest M2 are 0.6% for men and 14.9% for women. The lowest M3 are 7.0% for men and 5.8% for women, the highest M3 are 15.9% for men and 16.3% for women. This data show that only the M1 is substantially higher in regions with low socio-economic level compared to wealthier regions. Mortality in disadvantaged regions from the first group of avoidable causes exceeds that in wealthy regions by 203.0% for men and by 238.3% for women.