Despite a gradual shift to contract enlistment a large part of the Russian Armed Forces will still be manned by conscripts in the future, and only units on constant combat readiness will be fully manned by contract servicemen.
"Although a certain positive trend in conscripts' health conditions has been registered in recent years, the improvement process is rather slow," said Igor Bykov, the defense ministry medical department head.
He said mental, musculoskeletal and drug-related illnesses, as well as TB and AIDS, topped the list of diseases that make young men unfit for military service.
Bykov called for the adoption of a federal law to ensure a thorough and mandatory examination of all conscripts for HIV, a procedure only applied to contract servicemen.
The official also urged that health requirements be toughened in some branches of the military.
"We need stricter requirements in the nuclear weapons sector, the Navy and the Strategic Missile Forces," he said.
