Press releases

MINSK, 28 May (BelTA) – Belarus is among the countries with low mortality rate among infants and young children, chief pediatrician at the Belarusian Health Ministry Valentina Volchok said at a press conference, BelTA has learned.

Belarus successfully operates a multilevel system of medical care for mothers and children. Valentina Volchok noted that 80% of babies with a birth weight less than 1,000 grams survive, which attests to the high level of secondary care services and high qualifications of medical staff in Belarus.

“We can be proud of our achievements in pediatric surgery, including in treatment of congenital abnormalities. Our pediatric surgeons perform some 20,000 operations annually, including around 1,000 operations on newborns,” Valentina Volchok stressed.

The National Statistics Committee said that in 2014 Belarus’ infant mortality rate stood at 3.5 deaths per 1,000 live births, when in 2010 it was 4 deaths per 1,000 live births. Today Belarus’ infant mortality rate is among the lowest in the world. The country shares the third position with the UK, Switzerland, France, Spain, and Belgium.

As of 1 January 2015, in Belarus there were 1 million 790,000 children under 18, up by 1.8% from 1 January 2010.