Alcohol consumption and related problems.

Abstract

The CCEE/NIS have different alcohol traditions. Some countries favour wine, and others, beer or vodka, while the impact of islamic culture in some of the central Asian countries has kept alcohol consumption very low. Although alcohol-related health problems in these countries vary with their alcohol traditions, the CCEE/NIS have shown many important similarities in alcohol consumption and problems, and in alcohol policies, in both previous decades and the current transition period. Official statistics showed that alcohol consumption in the CCEE/NIS rose from the 1960s to the mid-1980s, and then remained stable or fell in most countries. There are no reliable statistics on consumption in the 1990s, as no new systems have been created to replace the former systems based on data on state-controlled sales. Further, efforts in Poland and the USSR in the 1980s showed that political and economic transition do not automatically lead to increased alcohol consumption and problems. Nevertheless, many observers think that consumption in the CCEE/NIS has increased, because the available information shows increases in alcohol-related problems. This is the result of three factors: the loosening of state controls, the relatively low price of alcohol and the underdevelopment of methods of decreasing harmful consumption that do not involve the state. The WHO Regional Office for Europe gives priority to helping the CCEE/NIS to develop new policies and action on alcohol as part of the European Action Plan.