Russia’s alcohol policy: a continuing success story

Russians are officially drinking less and, as a consequence, are living longer than ever before: life expectancies reached an historic peak in 2018—almost 68 years for men and 78 years for women—according to a WHO report examining the effects of alcohol control measures on mortality and life expectancy in Russia. The document’s release, on Oct 1, coincided with a meeting in Prague (Czech Republic) of representatives from the 53 countries of the WHO European Region, who met to consider the levels of implementation of both the global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol and the European Action Plan on Alcohol (EAPA).

Russia—historically considered one of the heaviest-drinking countries in the world—now stands as an example of how a long-term strategy using stringent policy reforms targeting both alcohol production and individual consumption can reverse the devastating effects of alcohol on a nation.

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