Russia has 800,000 non-traditional healers

MOSCOW, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Russia has more occult healers, sorcerers and wizards than it does professional doctors, an official said.

World Health Organization data indicate there are some 800,000 alternative healers in Russia, RIA Novosti reported Monday.

Andrei Yurevich, a spokesman for the Russian Academy of Sciences, said Russia has about 640,000 professional doctors.

The independent polling agency Levada said an August poll discovered about 20 percent of Russians use the services of non-traditional healers.

Russia saw an explosion in the belief of the paranormal and occult in the 1980s, with psychic healers Anatoly Kashpirovsky and Allan Chumak drawing audiences of millions, the report said.