Premature Death in the New Independent States (1997) / Chapter Skim
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Soviet and Russian Statistics on Alcohol Consumption and Abuse
Soviet and Russian Statistics on Alcohol Consumption and Abuse
Pages 220-238
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From page 220... ...
Open publication of virtually all statistical data related to alcohol consumption, alcohol abuse, and alcoholism ceased in the early 1930s, not to be resumed for almost 60 years. From time to time, some quantitative statements were made in specialized medical sources, but these were based on small samples and were of little, if any, utility.
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From page 221... ...
Thus, projected progress in education at all levels and planned increases in real income were optimistically expected to reduce drinking and to eradicate alcohol abuse. It was believed further that deviant behavior, social disruptions, economic and violent crime, and other consequences of heavy drinking and alcohol abuse could be effectively contained by restrictive and penal measures, controlled by law enforcement agencies, and corrected by appropriate educational and popular propaganda programs.
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From page 222... ...
STATISTICS ON PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL IN RUSSIA Table 7-1 shows a standard Russian tabulation of consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages per capita. Data of this type are available for some 75 regions of the country.5 The official statistical agency of the Soviet Union, Goskomstat SSSR, collected all alcohol consumption data in value terms (current and constant rubles)
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From page 223... ...
bin liters by volume. NOTES: Per capita alcohol consumption data were derived from sales of all state-produced alcoholic beverages, i.e., vodka, fruit wine, grape wine, cognac, champagne, and beer, converted to 100% alcohol.
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From page 224... ...
As can be seen from the estimates, the share of samogon in total alcohol consumption varied from less than 30 to over 60 percent of total consumption. It should be emphasized that in addition to state-produced alcoholic beverages, samogon, and home-made wine, consumption of alcohol in the Soviet Union and Russia has included stolen ethanol, a variety of technical alcohols, and alcohol surrogates (alcohol-based liquids such as aftershave lotions and colognes)
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From page 225... ...
According to the author's rough estimates, people of the Muslim culture consume on a per capita basis slightly less than half of the alcohol consumed by Slavs and other ethnic groups in Russia.~° As a result, regions of Russia in which Muslims constitute a significant portion of the population show a lower incidence of alcohol-related mortality and morbidity and socially disruptive alcohol abuse. Gender differences in drinking cannot be derivedfrom the available alcohol consumption sales data.
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From page 226... ...
Drinking vodka results in faster intoxication, more frequent violence, and more serious somatic effects, particularly accidents of different types and fatal alcohol poisonings (as discussed below) , than does drinking wine or beer.
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From page 227... ...
A few observations are, however, in order. Russian medical authorities are well aware of the fact that heavy drinking and alcohol abuse are significant contributors to a number of health problems, including cardiovascular and gastric ailments, tuberculosis, and a wide variety of accidents.
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From page 228... ...
The rapid growth of violent crime in Russia and the widely reported corruption of all law enforcement agencies suggest that the antisocial behavior of alcoholics and heavy drinkers is not very high on the government agenda, and available statistics should reflect this. IMPACT OF GORBACHEV'S ANTI-ALCOHOL CAMPAIGN Gorbachev's 1985 anti-alcohol campaign began with cuts in the production
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From page 229... ...
. and sale of alcoholic beverages, combined with hefty price increases and a number of administrative penalties for alcohol abuse.
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From page 230... ...
Many Western and Russian specialists, not unreasonably, link the restrictive measures of the campaign and drastic cuts in per capita consumption of alcohol to reduced mortality, decreased incidence of crime, and other beneficial social and health effects. Thus, according to the standard Soviet statistical handbook for 1987, "The average number of deaths in 1986 and 1987 compared to 1984 had
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From page 231... ...
It is now a well-established fact that Gorbachev directed Goskomstat SSSR to change the formula used in national income accounting to produce artificially high rates of growth in the 1985-1987 period.~4 An earlier paper by the author questions the official position that reduced drinking resulting from the campaign contributed to the reduction of more than 100,000 deaths from cardiovascular problems during the period by noting that this number breaks down to 54 percent fewer female deaths and 46 percent fewer male deaths. Since heavy drinking, alcohol abuse, and adverse health effects are much more prevalent among men than women, a reduction in drinking should have been reflected in a proportionately higher reduction in male deaths.~5 Perhaps the most striking statement about the effects of the campaign was recently made by the eminent Russian specialist in alcoholism Dr.
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From page 232... ...
FATAL ALCOHOL POISONING: A NEGLECTED PROBLEM One of the most alarming phenomena related to alcohol abuse in the former Soviet Union and Russia has been and is mortality from so-called fatal alcohol poisoning (Russian opoy)
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From page 233... ...
; Goskomstat SSSR (1988:501) ; Vestnik Statistiki (1989:62)
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From page 234... ...
SOURCE: Goskomstat SSSR (1990:445-490) ; Treml (no date: alcohol poisonings files)
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From page 235... ...
Gosudarstvennyi nauchnoissledovatel'skiy tsentr profilakticheskoy meditsiny Ministerstva zdravoohkraneniya i meditsinskoy promyshlennosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii. Popkin, Barry M., and N
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From page 236... ...
5. Since per capita consumption is derived from the standard resident population, ignoring drinking by out-of-town visitors, the resulting statistics overstate consumption in larger cities and resort areas; furthermore, regional data exclude sales of alcohol on military bases.
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From page 237... ...
In this respect, the statistical database available in the Soviet Union and Russia is far better. Detailed time series on industrial production of ethanol, vodka, wine, beer, cognac, champagne, and beer, in liters, have been collected regularly, as have data on exports and imports, in value terms and in physical units.
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From page 238... ...
19. The alarmingly high levels of fatal alcohol poisoning were completely ignored in the former Soviet Union or, when mentioned at all, were attributed to samogon.
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