Alcohol and the future health of Europe.

The impact of alcohol consumption on trends in the European health situation is analysed. Particular attention is given to the impact of alcohol on the widening of the East-West health gap in Europe. It is concluded that between 1950-75 the negative health impact of a rapid increase in per capita alcohol consumption in most European countries was hidden behind a strong positive development in many other socio-economic determinants of health. Between 1980 and 1995, health trends have been more closely parallel to trends in alcohol consumption. Changes in alcohol consumption explain a significant proportion of changes in life expectancy, particularly in the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. Public health policy on alcohol, as part of a general development of public health policies outside the health sector, is important in reducing the East-West health gap and sustaining the positive health trend in western Europe.