Capitalism and Russia’s Alcohol Problem

It turns out that capitalism was not the cause of Russia’s current (largely alcohol-related) mortality crisis.  From an NBER working paper by Bhattacharya, Gathmann, and Miller (2012): Political and economic transition is often blamed for Russia’s 40% surge in deaths between 1990 and 1994. Highlighting that increases in mortality occurred primarily among alcohol-related causes and…

Physicians, Patients, and Medical Care in Russia

Russian patients rarely visit a general practitioner and generally do not  believe that they should see a medical professional when they feel unwell, according to new findings from the National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS), conducted by Kantar Health.  The NHWS is a large, international self-reported annual patient survey with responses from patients in the U.S., Europe,…