ABSTRACT
After ten years of reform efforts in Russia and the former Soviet Union, development organizations are looking back to review programs that have worked and those that have failed to fulfill their promises. The health and social problems facing Russia are overwhelming and appear intractable. Despite millions of dollars in international aid and government efforts to curb these ills, along with some improvement in the economy, infectious diseases continue to spread. Poverty continues to plague the majority of the population, and the general standard of living remains low. Abandoned and homeless children roam the streets of Russia’s major cities. 1 Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS infect all strata of society. Infant and maternal mortality rates remain high. The male mortality crisis, inherited from the Soviet era, continues. 2 The problems are daunting, and no one organization can tackle all of them.
