Russians drinking a lot more

The agency, called Rospotrebnadzor, noted that the 2006 average was far higher than the 2005 average of 9.7 litres per person, Agence France Presse reported. In 2005, about 2.3 million of Russia's 142 million people were considered alcoholics.

In total, 12 billion litres of alcohol were sold in Russia in 2006. Of that, 75 percent was beer, 16 percent vodka and other hard liquor, 8t percent wine, and 1 percent cognac.

The agency said that while alcohol-related deaths actually declined to 28 386 in 2006 from 40 877 in 2005, alcohol was still a factor in 12 percent of all deaths in Russia last year, AFP reported.

Home-brewed alcohol killed 1 074 people in 2006, and 5 percent of alcohol sold in 2006 didn't meet sanitary standards, up from 2.6 percent in 2005. – (HealthDayNews)

April 2007