MOSCOW, October 8 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia has set a record birth rate over the past 15 years. Since January until August, 2007 more than one million children were born in Russia. This is the highest birth rate over the past 15 years, First Vice-premier Dmitry Medvedev declared at a conference the president traditionally holds on Mondays.

The measures taken on the initiative of the president and in line with the federal program on the improvement of the demographic situation have yielded positive results, Medvedev said. The rates of the population growth in central areas of Russia are approximately nine percent up, he said. This tendency is seen not only in the south of Russia where birth rates are traditionally high, but in other areas of the country, Medvedev said. The death rate has dropped by several percent, and at present, the death rates are lower than last year, he said.

“A concept adopted for a period until 2025 has been actively developing. We are continuing to work intensively on this problem. At Tuesday’s meeting of the Presidium /of the State Council on demography/ we shall endorse a list of the Mother and Child centers we are planning to build in Russia,” Medvedev said.
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