Four in ten Moldovans die before retirement

Four in ten persons in Moldova – three men and a woman – die before retirement, until the age of 62 in the case of men and until the age of 57 in the case of women, shows a study carried out by the Ministry of Health, Info-Prim Neo reports. The general mortality during the last ten years varied between 1,132.8 and 1,223.7 deaths per 100,000 people, being the main burden on the health system and the development of the national economy. Most of the deaths are caused by non-transmitted diseases resulting from alcohol and tobacco abuse, diseases of the circulatory apparatus, tumors, diseases of the digestive system, traumas and poisonings, the Ministry of Health’s senior specialist in education for health Ion Salaru said in a scientific conference. According to him, the traumas represent the main cause of chronic invalidity among the young people and of temporary inability to work among persons able to work. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, Minister of Labor, Social Protection and Family Valentina Buliga said the high mortality among working people means a lower number of payers of taxes to the state budget and a greater pressure on the rest of the salary earners, who must pay pensions and other benefits from their salaries. “Owing to the low contributions paid into the budget, more than 90% of the pensioners receive a pension that is below the minimum subsistence level,” said Valentina Buliga. The pressure on salary earners also increases due to the continuous aging of the population following the low natality. The people aged over 60 represent 14.4% of the population. According to international practices, the population is considered aging when the elderly persons constitute more than 12%. According to researches done by the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family, the working population in 2050 will decrease by 11-16%, from 69.2% to 57.7%. 1,425 women aged between 50 and 56 and 3,413 men aged between 56 and 61 died in Moldova in 2010.