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Alcohol consumption, alcohol-related deaths going down in Russia - health ministry

A federal law of July 20, 2012 banned advertising of alcoholic drinks, including beer, in printed and electronic media

MOSCOW, July 20. /TASS/. Alcohol consumption and alcohol-related deaths in Russia continue to demonstrate downwards tendencies, the press service of the Russian ministry of health told TASS on Thursday.

According to statistics cited by the press service, mortality rate from alcoholic intoxication in 2012 was 11.4 per 100,000 people and overall annual alcohol consumption was 12.4 liters per capita.

A federal law of July 20, 2012 banned advertising of alcoholic drinks, including beer, in printed and electronic media.

As a result, mortality rate from alcoholic intoxication nearly halved in 2016, to 5.6 per 100,000 while annual alcohol consumption decreased to 10.3 liters per capita.

"Most of social, economic and personal problems stem not from alcoholism but from alcohol abuses," the ministry said. Thus, according to statistics for 2015, about 61% of Russians who drink alcoholic beverages prefer hard liquors, while 39% opt for low-alcohol drinks.

Lower-risk drinking, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is eight liters a year. According to the WHO statistics, 3.3 million deaths a year, or 5.9% of all deaths, are attributable to alcohol.

The Russian health ministry insists the national laws be further toughened to bring down alcohol abuses. The ministry’s strategy of promoting healthy lifestyles and controlling non-infectious diseases till the year 2025 provides for further restrictions on sale of alcoholic drinks and a number of other anti-alcohol initiatives.

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