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Friday 1 January 2010

Russia slaps minimum price on vodka

Russian authorities have brought in new measures imposing a minimum price for all vodka sold in the country. The move is part of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's plan to tackle alcoholism. The cheapest bottle of vodka on sale will now be 89 roubles ($3;£1.80) for half a litre. An average Russian earns just under 18,000 roubles ($600; £367) per month and illegal vodka can be found for as little as 40 roubles. Experts estimate that sales of bootleg vodka in Russia make up almost 50% of all vodka drunk by Russians. As an average Russian drinks 34 bottles a year, that adds up to a lot of bottles. Mr Medvedev is determined to cut that by a quarter by 2012 - a brave target considering the lack of success his predecessors have had. The problem is that historically, whenever Russia has tried to combat excessive drinking, sales of illicit alcohol have risen. Homemade vodka in Russia is highly dangerous and contributes heavily to the country's 35,000 deaths a year from alcohol poisoning. The most draconian anti-alcohol campaign was virtual prohibition under former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s. That resulted in people drinking perfume and industrial alcohol which in turn led to widespread death and injury. The worry is that, at best, this gesture is just a token effort and at worst may even encourage the production of illicit vodka.(MY VIEW)-HOW THE FUCK DOES THIS TACKLE ALCOHOLISM?-making it cheaper..no wonder why their thick as shit,this will make it worse numbnuts

Rising alcohol addiction costs 'could cripple the NHS'

The cost of treating the growing number of people drinking heavily threatens to cripple NHS hospitals, warn experts. If the trend continues the burden will be unsustainable, the Royal College of Physicians and NHS Confederation say. With a quarter of England's population consuming hazardous amounts, alcohol addiction already costs the NHS more than £2.7 billion a year. Services need work together to avert a crisis, with the emphasis on prevention, they say in a joint report. Currently, most of the money is being spent on hospital and ambulance services. But hospital care alone cannot solve the problem, the report says. Increasing out-of-hospital provision could be more cost effective, it says. This would include GPs screening and counselling their patients on alcohol misuse. Trials suggest that brief advice from a GP, or practice nurse, leads to one in eight people reducing their drinking to within sensible levels. This, says the report, compares well with smoking cessation, where only one in 20 change their behaviour. Changing the way alcohol-related services are delivered could save hospitals 1,000 bed days and Primary Care Trusts up to £650,000 a year, experts estimate. Breaking point Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: "The nation's growing addiction to alcohol is putting an immense strain on health services, especially in hospitals, costing the NHS over £2.7 billion each year." And this sum has doubled in under five years. "This burden is no longer sustainable," he said. "The role of the NHS should not just be about treating the consequences of alcohol related-harm but also about active prevention, early intervention, and working in partnership with services in local communities to raise awareness of alcohol-related harm." Steve Barnett, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: "We hope this report helps to outline the scale of the problems facing the NHS and acts as a warning that if we carry on drinking in the way that we are currently, the bar bill will be paid in worse health and a health system struggling to cope." A Department of Health spokesperson welcomed the report: "We agree the level of alcohol-related hospital admissions, crime, and deaths are still unacceptable. "We are now seeing a real will by the NHS for change and improvement in alcohol services. "Two thirds of PCTs have adopted reducing alcohol-related hospital admissions as a local priority for the first time. "The department is providing Primary Care Trusts with the support, tools and incentives to deliver alcohol services in their own areas effectively according to local needs." (my view)-Easy answer......DO NOT TREAT THEM.....SIMPLE!THEY KNOW THE RISKS BEFORE THEY INTAKE.......SAME WITH LIVER FAILURE DUE TO ALCOHOLISM......LET THEM DIE