In the seven years since Vladimir Putin came to power, Russia has sustained an utterly catastrophic toll of “excess mortality” among its population at large. Indeed, since 2000, approximately 3.9 million more Russians have died prematurely—1 million women and nearly 3 million men—than would have if the hardly exemplary health conditions of the Gorbachev era still prevailed today. This toll amounts to more than twice the total wartime losses that the Russian Empire suffered under Nicholas II in World War I. Even more astonishing, on a per capita basis, the toll from “premature” mortality in Russia may now match—or exceed—sub-Saharan Africa’s death toll from HIV/AIDS. It’s grim proof that it is indeed possible for an urbanized, literate society to suffer long-term health declines during peacetime.

To its everlasting dishonor, Putin’s Kremlin has chosen to ignore the awful and continuing hemorrhaging of Russian life from this gaping national wound. But that doesn’t mean the rest of us should do the same.

Rallying to save millions of Russians over the coming decades would not be mere hyperbole: We know that relatively inexpensive policy interventions there could save hundreds of thousands of lives each year. Russia’s current death spiral circles principally around unnecessary and preventable mortality from heart disease and severe trauma (both closely related in Russia to severe excess drinking). Why not respond in force with, for example, preventive cardiovascular programs, alcohol education, road safety campaigns, and the establishment of emergency medical units in Russia’s urban centers?

A recent study by Johns Hopkins University indicates that intelligently crafted medical initiatives could be remarkably cost-effective in Russia: Traffic-safety measures could save...