Mr Putin said that, according to updated data provided by First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, positive demographic tendencies are emerging.
The President outlined a number of healthcare priorities, including carrying out a stocktaking of the country’s maternity clinics, women’s health centres and pre-natal centres, and ongoing measures to bring down the number of deaths due to cardiovascular disease. Mr Putin instructed the Cabinet to start work on selecting promising healthcare programmes and projects for 2008–2010 to be carried out in the country’s main federal healthcare institutions.
Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin informed the President about the Eurasian Economic Community Economic Council’s meeting which will take place on April 6 in Kazan.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reported on his upcoming visits to Armenia and Turkmenistan and the talks he plans to hold with these countries’ presidents and foreign ministers.