The best of Russia Close-Up: Tatarstan tries to boost birth rate

Tatarstan's government is partly subsidising fertility treatement in a bid to boost flagging birth rates in the central Russian republic. Traditionally, Tartar families have been extremely large with five or six children. But now the average is two or thr

Fertility treatment is available for the 17 per cent of women struggling to conceive, but it's expensive for low income families. So the government has started a new scheme, subsidising two thirds of the costs.

To the thousands of couple so far helped to make the transition from childlessness to parenthood, the Centre of Family Planning and Reproduction is a place where miracles happen. There is a huge waiting list, but the maternity units are indeed seeing a boom – hundreds more births each year at this hospital alone.

“Fifteen years ago we saw deaths exceed the number of births. We are reversing this trend – 3,500 more births last year and 500 fewer deaths – we need to keep on making progress,” said Ayrat Farrakhov, Health Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Tatarstan has been a part of Russia since the middle of the 16th century. The region's capital, Kazan, is more than a thousand years old and located on the river Volga. Today it's home to nearly four million people.