June 2, 2003 - Washington Post: Alcohol abuse by PCVs becoming a big issue in Central Asia
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June 2, 2003 - Washington Post: Alcohol abuse by PCVs becoming a big issue in Central Asia
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Alcohol abuse by PCVs becoming a big issue in Central Asia
Read and comment on this story from the Washington Post on a new Peace Corps directive forbidding alcohol use by Peace Corps staff in the Peace Corps' Eastern Mediterranean and Asia region whenever volunteers or trainees are around. Alcohol abuse by volunteers and trainees is becoming a big issue in some countries and it has been reported that at least one volunteer has recently been separated from the Peace Corps and sent home because his drinking was out of control. The volunteer's explanation reportedly was that it is a cultural thing for men to drink vodka frequently in his Country of Service. Read the story at:
On the Wagon*
* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.
On the Wagon
By Al Kamen
Robert Reid, chief of operations for the Peace Corps' Eastern Mediterranean and Asia region, raised some eyebrows in a May 1 e-mail forbidding alcohol use by headquarters staff whenever volunteers or trainees are around.
Reid, whose region includes Morocco, Ukraine, Armenia and five other countries, said the "alcohol guideline" was needed because "use and abuse of alcohol by our volunteers and trainees is a huge issue, and is often related to safety and security concerns. In order not to give our [volunteers and trainees] a mixed message," Reid said, "from now on we request that EMA (HQ) staff never drink alcohol with volunteers or trainees, neither in the US (at stagings, in Washington, DC or elsewhere) nor at [overseas] posts."
Despite the courteous "request" about this "guideline," Reid said "adherence to this guideline is mandatory, and violation of it could result in disciplinary action."
Then, on May 5, came another e-mail, this one to country directors and other staff in the region. "Colleagues, please note the new guideline regarding alcohol use that EMA has established for our headquarters staff. We encourage you to set the same guideline at your posts, while we consider establishing a more encompassing one for all EMA operations. Please let me know if you have any questions."
"A more encompassing one?" What could this be? Maybe no alcohol, period? No smoking? No caffeinated beverages? Separate tables for staff and volunteers if someone orders a drink?
Central Asians are drinking themselves to death
Read and comment on this story from BBC that the dominant style of drinking in Central Asia in countries of the former USSR is that of consuming large amounts of alcohol at one sitting and that binge drinking has played a major role in the steep rises in death rates since the early 1990s at:
Russians are drinking themselves to death*
* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.
Russians are drinking themselves to death
Vodka: Responsible for increased death rates?
Excessive drinking, it seems, is not confined to the upper echelons of Russian society.
Binge drinking has played a major role in the steep rises since in Russia's death rates since the early 1990s, researchers have found.
The most affected group is young men between the ages of 35 and 49.
The research focused on the daily death rates of Muscovites between 1993 and 1995.
It showed that there was a significant increase in deaths from alcohol poisoning, accidents, violence and cardiovascular disease on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays compared with the rest of the week.
Among 35 to 39 year-olds dying of heart disease, there were 10% fewer deaths on Tuesdays than would be expected, but 15% more deaths on Saturdays.
The findings, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, are consistent with drinking patterns in Russia.
The authors suggest that alcohol is to blame for these sudden deaths from heart disease.
"There are no other explanations for this pattern, which cannot be accounted for by daily variations in traditional risk factors, such as smoking and lipids," they argue.
The findings also fit in with data showing a decline in death rates during President Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign in the mid-1980s.
Alcohol causes damage
Alcohol is linked to damage to the heart muscle, heart arrhythmias, and heart attacks.
Researchers have also shown that people who suffer from frequent hangovers double their risk of sudden cardiac death.
"In the West, the prevailing view is that alcohol consumpton reduces the risk of heart disease," the authors say.
"We don't deny that alcohol exerts a protective effect on cardiovascular disease, but we challenge the idea that this effect works at all levels of consumption."
Commenting on the research, Dr Witold Zatonski, of The M Sktodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Centre, Warsaw, Poland, said the problem was that Russians tended to indulge in binge drinking.
He cited a Finnish study that found the risk of lethal myocardial infarction was seven times higher for those who drank six or more bottles of beer at one sitting compared with those who drank three bottles or less.
"The dominant style of drinking in Russia, as well as other countries of the former USSR, is precisely that of consuming large amounts of alcohol at one sitting," he said.
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5/29/03
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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Alcohol Abuse; PCVs in the Field; Safety and Security of Volunteers
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