McKee M
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.
Alcohol Alcohol. 1999 Nov-Dec;34(6):824-9. doi: 10.1093/alcalc/34.6.824.
The contribution that alcohol has made to the large fluctuations in mortality in Russia in recent years is now widely recognized. An association between heavy drinking and Russia is part of popular culture. But what is the reality? This paper reviews the evidence on historical patterns of consumption in Russia, highlighting the difficulties of obtaining valid statistics during the Soviet period (1917-1991). It notes how the state, at various times, encouraged alcohol sales. By the early 1980s, the social cost of heavy drinking was becoming apparent. This led, in 1985, to the imposition of the wide-ranging and initially highly effective anti-alcohol campaign by Mikhail Gorbachev. The features of this campaign and of its subsequent collapse are described. In the 1990s, consumption of alcohol increased rapidly. There has, however, been a recent reduction in alcohol-related deaths. It is concluded that heavy drinking is not an inevitable feature of Russian life and that, as the state has done much to create the present problem, it also has a role to play in resolving it.
近年来，酒精对俄罗斯死亡率大幅波动所起的作用如今已得到广泛认可。大量饮酒与俄罗斯之间的关联是大众文化的一部分。但实际情况究竟如何呢？本文回顾了俄罗斯饮酒消费历史模式的相关证据，着重指出了在苏联时期（1917 - 1991年）获取有效统计数据的困难。文中提到国家在不同时期是如何鼓励酒类销售的。到20世纪80年代初，大量饮酒的社会成本日益显现。这导致在1985年，米哈伊尔·戈尔巴乔夫发起了范围广泛且起初成效显著的反酗酒运动。本文描述了这场运动的特点及其随后的失败。在20世纪90年代，酒精消费量迅速增长。然而，近期与酒精相关的死亡人数有所减少。得出的结论是，大量饮酒并非俄罗斯生活中不可避免的特征，而且既然国家在很大程度上造成了当前的问题，那么它在解决这一问题上也应发挥作用。
