The Russian Academy of Medical Sciences has marked International Women's Day by issuing a report expressing serious concerns about the declining health of Russian women of child-bearing age.

The report says reproductive health problems are appearing in younger women who are either dying or become sterile before they have any or enough children to ensure Russia reproduces its population.

The Academy says it is particularly concerned about the growing mortality rate among teenage girls and young women.

It says the female teenage death rate has increased forty-two times over the past ten years.

The Academy blames increased drug use and prostitution for the rise. Russia has suffered from a sharp demographic decline in the past decade.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service