Russia plans to cut alcohol consumption in half by 2020

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has approved a national plan to cut alcohol consumption in half by 2020 and to bring the illegal alcohol market under proper control, according to the Novosti press agency. The level of alcohol harm in Russia has been described by the Government as a national disaster.

Measures to achieve the goals include the introduction of criminal punishment for alcohol production and sales violations; restrictions, or possibly a total ban on alcohol advertising; measures to make alcohol more expensive, and efforts to promote a healthy lifestyle, “The first phase (2010-2012) will include measures to cut alcohol consumption by 15% per capita... The second phase (2012-2020) will see the elimination of the illegal alcohol market and a reduction in consumption levels by 55%,” the government said.

The aim is designed to reduce the high mortality caused by alcohol, especially among men. More than 23,000 people die of alcohol poisoning annually, while another 75,000 die of alcoholrelated diseases, according to official statistics. Men in Russia have an average life expectancy of just 60 years, well below the Western European average of 77 years, and alcohol is thought to be strongly implicated in the excess mortality. Russia’s Public Chamber said last year that altogether around half a million people die annually from diseases, crimes and accidents due to alcohol. The consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said more than 2 million people suffer from alcohol dependence.

As part of the campaign, Russia introduced on January 1 a minimum price of vodka in an effort to fight counterfeit alcohol production in the country.

The last Russian leader to try to cut alcohol consumption was Mikhail Gorbachev, who in May 1985, attempted to tackle the high level of alcohol harm that was already taking its toll on the Soviet Union’s economy and health system. While the Gorbachev campaign succeeded in reducing alcohol consumption and harm for a time, the success could not be maintained, and the illicit production of moonshine - ‘samogon’ - rose rapidly. There was also an increase in the consumption of non-beverage alcohols such as medicinal and industrial spirit.

Previously, Russia’s chief public health doctor had called for a night-time ban on sales of all alcoholic beverages, including beer. Dr Gennady Onishchenko said that prohibiting sales of alcoholic beverages between 9pm and early morning was ‘a normal and civilized norm’, and he urged that the ban should also include beer as well. In Moscow, spirits are already unavailable in most stores from 11 p.m. until 8 a.m.