Infections "consumed" 22 billion in the Nizhny Novgorod region over the year.

      In 2025, the total economic damage from 23 infectious diseases in the Nizhny Novgorod region amounted to about 22 billion rubles. For a comparable amount, several dozen clinics or more than a thousand rural health posts could have been built in the region, closing the deficit in medical assistance in major areas of Nizhny Novgorod and cities of the region. As noted by Rospotrebnadzor, the share of vaccine-preventable infections in this sum turned out to be minimal. This was reported by Alexey Nikонов on his Telegram channel.

      According to calculations, 22 billion rubles is comparable to the construction of approximately 26 clinics or about 1100 feldsher-midwife stations. Such volumes of construction would significantly improve access to healthcare in several major areas of Nizhny Novgorod, including Sormovo, the Soviet district, and the Novinki residential area, as well as in a number of municipalities in the region.

      It is noted that the damage assessment includes both direct treatment costs and indirect economic losses due to temporary loss of productivity. In fact, infectious diseases annually "knock out" an amount from the regional economy comparable to a large infrastructure program in healthcare.

      According to the regional office of Rospotrebnadzor, the contribution of so-called vaccine-preventable infections — whooping cough, measles, rubella, and acute hepatitis B — to the total amount turned out to be extremely small. They accounted for about 22.7 million rubles, which is a fraction of a percent of the total damage.