title: Alcoholism and rising mortality in the Russian Federation.
abstract: In the Russian Federation today the high incidence of alcoholism and drunkenness helps to account for rising death rates, more particularly among the male population. During the mid-1980s a significant reduction in deaths from alcohol related diseases was achieved by state action in curtailing the supply of alcohol. However, official data disclose a pattern of sharply increased consumption per head since 1987, with high proof drinks--especially vodka--now forming a larger share in the total. In current economic conditions the effects of a traditional macho drinking culture are exacerbated by a reduction of state control over the quality of alcohol available for purchase. A substantial increase has occurred in deaths from most principal causes, with a disproportionate increase in deaths from non-natural causes, including deaths caused predominantly by alcohol. Average expectation of life at birth has fallen especially sharply for men; by 1993 it had slumped to 59.0 years--that is, to below the age at which a pension starts to be paid.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Russian and East European Studies, University of Wales, Swansea.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ryan
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000401:mortality*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000401:mortality*; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008297:Male; D012426:Russia / Q000453:epidemiology