Russian city offers health pursuits for all ages

Abstract

For 88-year-old Zoya Marinich, who lives in the south-western Russian city of Stavropol, the turning point came with a phone call. was invited to meet Vasily Skakun, a man who trained 17 world champion gymnasts recalls the retired teacher. Seventy-six at the time of the call, Zoya was not planning to take up vaulting, but she was interested in getting healthy again. Zoya had seen her share of physical hardship, including working hard on a farm as a girl before the Second World War and, during the war, torture as a partisan while the city was occupied from August 1942 to January 1943. But what had really taken its toll on her health were decades of physical inactivity and unhealthy eating, a combination that resulted in what Zoya calls a bouquet of health problems, including heart disease and chronic muscular pain. Zoya is one of thousands of people in the Russian Federation, a vast country of 141 million people stretching from central Europe to the Pacific Ocean, who have multiple chronic health problems. Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) account for an estimated 82% of all deaths in the country. Cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke, accounts for 62% of those deaths--higher than the global average of 48%--while cancer causes almost 15% of them. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] To treat her health problems, Zoya had always relied on medicines provided by her but she was not optimistic. realized that I would not survive on pills alone, she says. Then the telephone rang. One of the classes offered by the Vastly Skakun Academy was yoga, and Zoya Marinich hit the mat. Skakun's efforts are part of a citywide drive to reduce the high toll of NCDs. is one of about 100 cities in 30 countries across the European Region of the World Health Organization (WHO) that have joined the international Healthy Cities movement. The initiative, started by WHO's Regional Office for Europe in 1986, aims to promote healthy lifestyles, create healthy living conditions and combat the NCD epidemic in the 53-country region. Stavropol is a dynamic member of the Healthy Cities movement in the Russian Federation and in the European network as a whole, says Dr Agis Tsouros, the director of policy and governance for health and well-being at the WHO Regional Office for Europe. established a Healthy Cities project office in 2006. But, as Dr Karen Amlaev, WHO Healthy Cities campaign coordinator in points out, the city has been involved in activities of the Healthy Cities Association since 1996. would have been a sin not to do so, since the deputy mayor of on social issues was a doctor, he says, referring to Valentina Muravyova, who is now rector of the Medical University. Amlaev firmly believes that these activities, which are funded by the city authorities and provided free of charge to all, are already making a difference to the population's health. The main thrust of Stavropol's efforts is to reduce risk factors for NCDs by raising awareness among people of all ages regarding unhealthy behaviours such as smoking and by providing free health services, such as drop-in clinics to measure blood pressure. The Russian Federation has one of the highest smoking rates in the world, at around 40%, and each year an estimated 398 000 Russian citizens die from tobacco-related causes, according to the WHO global report: mortality attributable to tobacco--the equivalent of the entire population of the city of Stavropol. The Healthy Cities campaign is reaching children by distributing a comic with anti-tobacco messaging. It has been such a success that it is now in its fourth edition. The involvement of local media has been central to the campaign, including interviews with health experts on local radio stations and a regular column in Vecherny Stavropol, a local evening newspaper on health issues. …