Some important information you should discover in regards to this lethal health concern

According to the World Health Organization, alcohol consumption and underlying problems have significantly increased over the decades.

According to data, most of the rise in alcohol intake has been located in developing countries. Since third world countries lack the kinds of alcoholism prevention and treatment programs of developed countries, it becomes more of an epidemic as years pass.

Researchers claim that over 1.8 million deaths annually are caused by alcoholism. Russia and countries formerly involved in the Soviet Union take up a vast majority of these deaths due to alcohol consumption. The World Health Organization reports that your health will face an extreme risk if you consume more than 8 liters of alcohol per person, per year. Russians consume a whopping 15 liters on average of alcohol per person, per year, which the WHO claims is part of the downfall of that society.

Alcoholism can initiates problems which are not only health related. Some other problems associated with alcoholism include prostitution and child neglect, the dissolution of families, absenteeism in the workplace, traffic accidents and violence. Russians have always had problems with excessive use of alcohol. Since people who lived in that area had a reputation of a being less resistant to alcohol’s effects, making them even more addicted. Just like some aboriginals of North America or citizens of Nordic countries, Russians quickly fell under the weight of alcoholism.

During communism, in an effort to save the nation, Lenin proclaimed a ban on production and consumption of beverages containing alcohol. This did not last, however since Stalin lifted the ban. Years later in 1985, M, Gorbachev tried to re-initiate such a ban. A part of the plan was to aggressively promote soft drinks and non alcoholic beverages, and prices were increased threefolds to decrease purchasing. On the downside, this deficit of alcoholic beverages led to a widespread consumption of other chemical substances that contained ethyl or ethanol (solvents, colognes etc) and an underground production of popular, vodka-like substance called samogon.

The Russians began to dislike Mr. Gorbachev due to his efforts to curtail alcohol consumption. With the arrival of Yeltsin to power and the dissolving of the URSS, Gorbachev’s efforts were wasted. Needless to remind of the drunken speeches given by former Russian President, Yeltsin, when addressing the nation during the New Year`s eve.

In terms of the population`s life expectancy, Russia occupies the 162nd position, according to the CIA’s annual report. Neighboring on the list with Papua New Guinea and Bhutan , Russians in average live up to 66,3 years. Alcoholism can be directly linked to the low and falling life expectancy of people living in Russia. Apart from alcoholism, notorious Russian mistrust to common items such as Zeta clear review can also be considered as a contributing factor.

Today, 17 % of newborns in Russian are told to suffer from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Since 1998, sales of alcoholic beverages other than vodka and wine such as beer have tripled. Television and billboard advertisement of beer consumption is ever growing- and the targeted audiences are seemingly youngsters.

In the rapidly growing number of television and billboard ads, alcohol is presented as a status symbol and a way to live life to the fullest, instead of showing its negative effects on the people and the country. In my opinion Russian government needs to implement strong measures against popularization and advertisement of alcohol, and effective measures for treatment of the existing alcoholism problem.