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Call to fight alcoholism

Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW: Russia's chief sanitary inspector Gennady Onishchenko has called for a national campaign to combat drunkenness. "Society has long grown ripe for adopting a comprehensive long-term strategy to take the country off the drinking hook," Mr. Onishchenko was quoted as telling the Interfax news agency. "This strategy must be aimed at reducing the general consumption of alcohol, above all vodka." Medical authorities have registered 2,369,000 persons suffering from alcoholism in Russia, a 14 per cent increase from 2000, he said. The most alarming aspect of the problem is the growth of teenage alcoholism. There are 100,000 acoholics aged 14 or younger in Russia today.

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