Hungary's neglected "alcohol problem": alcohol drinking in a heavy consumer country.

Hungary has always belonged to the group of nations characterized by high alcoholic beverage consumption and it is still one of the leading liver cirrhosis mortality countries in Europe and in the world. This research studies changes in selected contextual factors and control policy measures that are most strongly correlated with changes in alcohol consumption and selected related harms in Hungary between 1960 and 2008. The method to analyze the association between different variables was similar to that of the European AMPHORA project. The analysis, which has been done, highlights the central role of urbanization and population ageing in Hungary in affecting the increase of consumption of alcoholic beverages, especially beer. Alcohol control policy measures show little explanatory power to interpret consumption changes; having had no effect in curbing alcohol consumption and no, or little impact on alcohol consumption-related deaths. Study's limitations are noted.