Alcohol Affordability and Epidemiology of Alcoholism in Belarus

Background: Since the alcohol abuse has numerous adverse health and social consequences, the consumers’ response to changes in alcohol affordability is an important issue of alcohol policy debates. Studies from many countries have shown an inverse relationship between alcohol prices and alcohol consumption in a population. There are, however, suggestions that increasing the price of alcohol by rising taxes may have limited effect on alcohol-related problems, associated with long-term heavy drinking. Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between alcohol affordability and epidemiological parameters of alcoholism (alcohol dependence prevalence rate and the number of patients undergoing treatment for alcohol dependence) in post-Soviet Belarus. Method: With this purpose, trends in epidemiological parameters of alcoholism and affordability of vodka between 1980 and 2010 were compared. Results: The time series analysis revealed that 1% increase in vodka affordability is associated with an increase in the prevalence of alcohol dependence rate of 0,3%, an increase in the number of patients undergoing treatment for alcohol dependence of 0,31%. Conclusions: The major conclusion emerging from this study is that affordability of alcohol is one of the most important predictors of alcohol-related problems in a population. These findings provide additional evidence that decreasing the affordability of alcohol is an effective strategy for reducing alcohol consumption and alcohol-related damage.