OREANDA-NEWS The average life expectancy in Russia at the end of 2018 was more than 73 years. This was reported Director of the Russian gerontological scientific and clinical center, chief geriatrician of the Ministry of Health Olga Tkacheva.

"The task by 2024 is 78 years. This is a very serious task. And therefore it is necessary to solve this problem in all age groups-to reduce mortality and infant, and middle age, and in old age," she added.

In February, the Minister of Health of Russia Veronika Skvortsova claimed that the average life expectancy of Russians is 72.7 years.​

In a May decree, President Vladimir Putin instructed to increase life expectancy to 78 years by 2024 and to reach 80 years by 2030.

Skvortsova said that the goal is achievable, but it is necessary to take a set of measures, first of all — to form a healthy lifestyle. It should be instilled in kindergartens, schools and other educational institutions. Also, according to the Minister, it is necessary to carry out "health screening", namely medical examination and preventive examinations, and to improve the quality of medical care.

Average life expectancy in the Russian Federation is calculated by the method covering the age groups from infants to people 110 years. The indicator is an arithmetic mean of the number of years lived by a certain part of the population.

The indicators offer hope for an improvement in the demographic situation and a reduction in mortality in working age. But global changes are possible only if the increase in life expectancy in Russia will be added and fertility.