A plunge in alcohol consumption has been linked to a dramatic rise in life expectancy in the Russian Federation, a new WHO report reveals. This follows a set of comprehensive alcohol control measures put in place by the state since 2003.
The report, “Alcohol policy impact case study: the effects of alcohol control measures on mortality and life expectancy in the Russian Federation”, shows that total per capita consumption has been declining since 2003 and dropped by 43 percent until 2016 – with a 40 percent decline in recorded consumption and a 48 percent decline in unrecorded consumption, referring to alcohol produced and sold outside governmental control.
This trend mirrored a drop in all-cause mortality by 39 percent in men and 36 percent in women between 2003 and 2018, with the sharpest decline in causes of death linked to alcohol consumption. This helped average life expectancy in the Russian Federation reach a historic high in 2018, at almost 68.
In 2011, the Russian Federation supported the adoption of WHO’s European Action Plan to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol 2012–2020 and has been implementing many of its recommendations since. A series of policy interventions, recommended as effective or cost-effective by WHO, were adopted and enforced over the last years. For instance, the government:
- gradually raised excise taxes on alcohol;
- introduced a minimum unit price policy on vodka as far back as 2003, then increased the minimum unit price over the years, before expanding this policy to other alcoholic beverages;
- introduced a real-time tracking system on the production and sale of alcohol;
- began a comprehensive night ban on off-premises sales of alcohol nationally, with even stricter restrictions on alcohol availability in some regions, as well as strict policies on alcohol-free public space and alcohol marketing.
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