Socio-economic portrait and medical and demographic characteristics of the Arctic territories of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

• Main Authors: Kovshov A.A., Novikova Yu.A., Fedorov V.N., Tikhonova N.A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: LLC Center for Information and Legal Support for the Development of the Arctic 2021
• Subjects: russian arctic; republic of sakha (yakutia); socio-economic indicators; low cash income; public health; chronic alcoholism; active tuberculosis; Geography (General); G1-922; Arctic; Sakha; Republic of Sakha; Yakutia
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.24412/2658-4255-2021-2-105-117; https://doaj.org/article/eb09f63dcf774e7e83c47bf862ed5ebe

The regions of the Russian Arctic are experiencing significant difficulties in the implementation of state tasks to improve the living standards of the population, to provide them with quality goods and services due to the harsh natural and climatic conditions, complex logistics, as well as the uneven distribution of settlements. We analyzed the socio-economic indicators for 2007-2019, the incidence of the population with alcohol dependence syndrome and active tuberculosis in the context of the territories of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) included in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. We discovered that in recent years there has been a steady trend towards a decrease in the resident population of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) due to the migration outflow. In addition, there is a high proportion of the population with incomes below the subsistence level, a low ratio of per capita income to the subsistence level, insufficient provision of the population with doctors of all specialties, high unemployment rate, and the rural population is insufficiently provided with centralized cold water supply. Low socioeconomic status of residents contributes to an increase in health risk, which is indirectly manifested by an increased incidence of alcoholism and alcohol psychosis, as well as tuberculosis. Organization of a set of measures aimed at creating new jobs and increasing real incomes, providing the population with high-quality drinking water and improving medical care should become an integral component of sustainable development of the Arctic regions.