Effectiveness of policy changes to reduce harm from unrecorded alcohol in Russia between 2005 and now.

BACKGROUND: Consumption of unrecorded alcohol (alcohol that is not taxed and reflected in official statistics, but consumed as a beverage) has been identified as one of the main contributors to alcohol-attributable premature mortality in Russia. The problem was highlighted by a recent a mass poisoning with surrogate alcohol occurred in the Siberian city of Irkutsk.

METHODS: Based on key publications and legislative documents, a narrative review was undertaken about alcohol-related harm reduction policies in Russia for the period between 2005 and 2017, as well as the impact of these policies on the recorded and unrecorded alcohol consumption and alcohol market.

RESULTS: Various policy measures mainly targeting availability and price of recorded and unrecorded alcohol have been introduced since 2005, which generally coincided with the decreases in alcohol-related mortality observed at that time. However, regulations on medicinal and cosmetic products have remained inconsistent providing the foundations for the continued existence of a legal industry of surrogates with broad availability and misuse.

CONCLUSION: The Russian experiences of introducing alcohol policies demonstrate that there are effective measures to reduce unrecorded alcohol consumption and attributable harm. The government's multi-level strategy of alcohol consumption and harm reduction should be pursued stringently and all the possible loop-holes for producers, sellers and distributors of illegal and/or unrecorded alcohol should be eliminated or at least critically reduced.