Russia to Face Alcoholic Catastrophe

March 26. VOSTOK MEDIA – “For the last years the Russians have been drinking much more than in the soviet period,” medical workers said at a press conference in the Open Institute of Public Health. The doctors consider that country is moving towards alcoholic catastrophe. Specialists are sure that it’s impossible to solve a problem only by reducing alcohol sales. The problem can be curbed only if the population’s mentality is changed.
The Noviye Izvestiya newspaper reports according to a report of the World Health Care Organization the annual consumption of alcohol in Russia accounts for 15.2 litres per capita. The statistics takes into account all citizens including children and disabled old men.
“According to our estimates the annual consumption of alcohol approaches to 18 litres per capita, - a psychiatrist of the Moscow Research Institute of Psychiatry Alexander Nemtsov says. – People in Russia never drunk so much. For comparison – alcohol consumption in XIXth century was about 2-4 litres per year. The index stayed at this level till 1955 when growth of alcohol consumption started. As a result we came to the Perestroika anti-alcohol campaign with the index at 14 litres per year.”
Now economists and doctors are elaborating absolutely new ways of solving the alcohol problem. They stress that besides new strict measures we should isolate children from alcohol consumption. Numerous researches proved that later consumption of alcohol reduces future problems related to alcohol abuse.