Russian parliamentarian believes the state is more important than children and the disabled

Nikolay Kosarev, a parliamentarian from the City Council of Yekaterinburg, one of the largest cities in Russia, has answered questions posed to him by a correspondent from Uralinformbureau. The result has caused a scandal.

Kosarev said that: “One needs to know where to draw the line in helping babies and people with disabilities.”

“For example, we create perinatal centres where they take care of infants weighing 500 grams. Then, I believe, we produce people who often do not have the potential for good health. They are disabled, they are sick,” said the parliamentarian.

He also complained that stroke survivors often become disabled and thus become ‘dependent on the state’.

Kosarev believes that, while this is good in terms of reducing mortality, it creates an additional burden on the state.

The parliamentarian believes that the main priority should not be the construction of perinatal centres where premature babies are nursed, but creating a ‘sense of responsibility for personal health’ in people.

According to the parliamentarian, he regularly goes to a banya [a type of sauna and steam bath popular in Russia -ed], eats organic produce and takes breaks in nature in order ‘not to cause trouble to the state’.