Antonina Levashenko, Head of the International Best Practices Analysis Department at the Gaidar Institute explained in a comment for “Vzglyad” how public health affects country’s economy.
According to her, any illness affects the economy in one way or another: productivity drops, and people temporarily or permanently lose their ability to work. But there are diseases that do not immediately knock a person off track, yet over time sharply increase the risk of serious complications, disability, and premature death.
She was referring to obesity and hypertension, Antonina Levashenko explained. These diseases initially have almost no impact on work, but gradually place a burden on the healthcare system and then reduce the number of able-bodied citizens due to complications and rising rates of disability.
According to the expert, life expectancy in Russia is gradually increasing: from 73.3 years in 2024 to 73.5 in 2025. However, at the same time, quality of life and health may deteriorate precisely during working age.
“That is why developed countries are increasingly focusing not on treatment but on prevention—reducing risk factors through infrastructure and taxes. Examples include the development of bike lanes in Europe or the sugar-sweetened beverage tax in the UK. A sugar tax has been in effect there since 2018: the more sugar per liter in a beverage, the higher the tax rate. Over five years, the share of sugary drinks in the British market fell from 49% to 15%, and average daily sugar consumption among the population decreased,” said Antonina Levashenko.
In Russia, a similar excise tax on sugar-containing beverages will be introduced on July 1, 2023. Additionally, Russia has implemented initiatives to promote a healthy lifestyle. As part of the federal program “Sport—the Norm of Life,” the goal is to encourage 70% of the population to engage in regular physical activity.
“However, promotion and sports infrastructure alone are not enough. It is important to develop preventive medicine within the healthcare system: many diseases can be detected and stopped at an early stage if people’s awareness of their own health is raised,” concluded Antonina Levashenko.