Quarter of Russians note improvement in disabled people's living conditions - poll

MOSCOW. Dec 7 (Interfax) - Twenty-three percent of Russians have noted a recent improvement in disabled people's living conditions, the Public Opinion Foundation said on its website.

Positive changes include better healthcare, the provision of wheelchairs, prosthetics and other necessary devices, and broader opportunities for mobility and comfortable presence in public places, the pollster said.

Muscovites (37%) noted positive changes more often than others, the pollster said. The share stands at 25% in cities with a population from 250,000 to 1 million, 23% in million plus cities, and 22% in cities with a population from 50,000 to 250,000 and towns with a population under 50,000 each. Nineteen percent note better living conditions for disabled people in the countryside.

About half of respondents, or 45%, say nothing has changed in disabled people's living conditions, 11% claim a deterioration, and 23% are undecided, the pollster said.

The Public Opinion Foundation polled 1,500 respondents in 104 populated localities in 53 regions of Russia on November 24-26.