MOSCOW. Sept 17 (Interfax-AVN) - One-third of Russian draft-age citizens are excused from army service for health reasons, and more than 45,000 young men are rejected over malnutrition problems, the office of the State Duma told Interfax-AVN.
"Of the 2.1 million citizens screened, 614,000, or one-third of the total number, were relieved from army service, according to the Defense Ministry's Main Medical Department," a State Duma official said.
These figures were cited in the Defense Ministry's official reply to a parliamentary inquiry and comes ahead of the fall draft campaign.
Bone and muscle system disorders are the most common reason for relieving draft-age citizens from army service and they account for 17.9% of the health problems diagnosed in draftees (109,700 men). Psychic disorders were revealed in 99,600 draftees (16.2%), problems of the digestive system in 64,200 (10.5%) and of the nervous system in 58,300 (9.5%).
Malnutrition remains an acute problem. More than 180,000 draft-age citizens are diagnosed with malnutrition each year and more than 45,000 draftees are rejected for this reason annually, the State Duma said.