English
РусскийAlcohol Control
Alcohol abuse is a major source of premature mortality globally, but especially in East European countries including Russia. Consumption of distilled spirits (for example, in the form of vodka) is a major factor aggravating mortality risks due to typically high per-event intake of ethanol by liquor drinkers. Countries with high alcohol-related mortality should aim for a reduction in spirits consumption as their major health policy.
Decades of international research regarding alcohol policies has identified at least two general types of actions that can effectively decrease both alcohol and hard liquor consumption: alcohol price increase and alcohol physical environmental availability limitation.
These measures should be combined with the efforts to eliminate illicite trade and unrecorded consumption of the spirits. Alcohol market centralization and reduction of the number of producers might have immediate strong effects on mortality.
