March 11, 2022 | News | Opinion Piece

The Russian Invasion of Ukraine and Its Public Health Consequences

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Dmitri Jdanov, Head of the Laboratory of Demographic Data at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock, David A. Leon, Professor of Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and nine colleagues wrote a letter to the editor in “Lancet Regional Health – Europe” to comment on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its public health consequences.

With regard to the substantial numbers on both sides who have died since the war started, the authors write: “The unprovoked and unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 is already having terrible consequences for health.”

They refer to the already tense situation in public health due to the Corona pandemic: “This catastrophic turn of events comes hard on the heels of the two-year COVID-19 pandemic during which countries of Eastern Europe were among some of the worst affected.”

About the health of the ever-increasing number of refugees the authors write: “The physical and mental health problems experienced by the anticipated millions of refugees and internally displaced persons will once again be substantial.”

Jdanov and colleagues also recognize consequences for the people in Russia and Belarus: “The impact of these events will also be felt in the months to come by the people of Russia and Belarus following imposition of unprecedented economic sanctions.”

Read about the authors' call to support not only Ukrainian researchers but also Russian scientists who are in danger because of their political views or expressions of opinion, in the full letter to the editor.

Original Publication

Leon, D. A., Jdanov, D., Gerry, C.J., Grigoriev, P., Jasilionis, D., McKee, M., Meslé, F., Penina, O., Twigg, J., Vallin, J., Vågerö, D.: The Russian invasion of Ukraine and its public health consequences. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100358

Authors and Affiliations

David A. Leon, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Dmitri Jdanov, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock

Christopher J. Gerry, University of Oxford

Pavel Grigoriev, Federal Institute for Population Research, Wiesbaden

Domantas Jasilionis, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas

Martin McKee, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

France Meslé, French Institute for Demographic Studies (INED), Paris

Olga Penina, Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Republic of Moldova

Judyth Twigg, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond

Jacques Vallin, French Institute for Demographic Studies (INED), Paris

Denny Vågerö, Stockholm University

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MPIDR-Authors of the Paper

Head of the Laboratory of Demographic Data

Dmitri A. Jdanov

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The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock is one of the leading demographic research centers in the world. It's part of the Max Planck Society, the internationally renowned German research society.