Alcohol Abuse in Russia: History and Perspectives

Alcohol Abuse in Russia: History and Perspectives

There is abundant literature about alcohol consumption and alcoholism in Russia, which is undoubtedly immense. Nevertheless, there is also a tendency for the issue to be exaggerated, which may veil shortcomings of the health care system, and shifts responsibility for the relatively low life expectancy onto the patients as self-inflicted diseases caused by excessive alcohol consumption. Acknowledging the role of individual choice, the purpose of this review is to draw attention to the alcohol-abuse issues and related problems, such as the inconsistent quality of alcoholic beverages, which have sometimes caused poisonings even after consumption in moderate doses. Furthermore, apart from excessive alcohol consumption, the following causes of the relatively low life expectancy in Russia, not clearly perceptible from the literature, are pointed out: insufficient quality and availability of the health care, particularly for middle-aged and elderly men, including those prone to the alcohol consumption; low quality and toxicity of some alcoholic beverages, acknowledging that there have been improvements over approximately the last decade.