Vladivostok Youth Activists to Campaign for Abandoning Daylight Saving Time

VLADIVOSTOK. March 19. VOSTOK-MEDIA – Vladivostok youth activists and the Young Guard of United Russia are preparing to hold a campaign called “United Time – United Country” tomorrow, on March 20.

Organizers said the purpose of the action is to propose to abandon the current system of daylight saving time, to preserve health of Primorsky Krai residents and to save people’s lives.

Scientists have found out that one hour shift forward causes considerable changes in biorhythms of people. Health care experts argue that during the first five days after clocks are moved one hour forward, the number of emergency calls from people who have heart diseases increases by 11%, chronic illnesses worsens, the number of car accidents and suicide attempts increases by 50-60%.

At present, 130 countries do not observe DST, including Japan, China, Singapore, the United States, and the majority of developed countries. Russia has a chance to abandon the harmful, to our opinion, practice of advancing clocks as early as this spring.

March 28, 2010, is the nearest changeover date. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev appealed to the public to express their opinion on this pressing issue. Primorsky Krai lawmakers have already made it clear they want DST to be abandoned.

Organizers of the event call Primorsky Krai community to support the initiative to abandon DST and to take part in the campaign.

The campaign will be held at the following locations: 111, Okeansky Prospect (at New Wave Cinema); 10, Semyonovskaya Street (near Rodina shopping mall); Tretya Rabochaya Street (at the playground).