Beschreibung:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p> <jats:italic>
<jats:bold>Introduction and Aims.</jats:bold> To substantiate public health policies aimed at diminishing alcohol‐related harm, the level of alcohol‐related deaths needs to be documented on a national level. The aim of this study was to explore the opportunities provided by the 1985–1988 anti‐alcohol campaign related data for estimation of alcohol‐related mortality in Ukraine. <jats:bold>Design and Methods.</jats:bold> Ecological study design based on the aggregate‐level data analysis regarding the natural experiment in Ukraine. All‐cause and cause‐specific observed mortality levels in 1986‐88 compared to the extrapolated 1980–84 trends. The number and proportion of ‘prevented’ deaths were calculated for those causes, for which were observed: (1) reduction of mortality levels during the campaign and (2) increase after 1988. Alcohol‐attributable fractions of mortality per one litre of per capita consumption were calculated for each death cause based on prevented deaths and consumption decrease estimates. The total number of alcohol‐related deaths for a specific year was also calculated. <jats:bold>Results.</jats:bold> Ukraine experienced a large mortality reduction during the campaign. The estimates of prevented deaths revealed that at least 76% of the mortality reduction was attributable to alcohol. Alcohol‐related mortality due to injuries is much higher for men, while coronary heart disease (CHD) alcohol‐attributable fractions were about 0.5 in middle age both for men and women. <jats:bold>Discussion and Conclusions.</jats:bold> While in Western countries alcohol is considered as a protective factor for CHD, in Ukraine alcohol‐related cardiovascular mortality is rather high. In 2004 in Ukraine total number of alcohol‐related deaths was about 119,000 or 251 per 100,000 of population.</jats:italic>[Krasovsky K. Alcohol‐related mortality in Ukraine. <jats:italic>Drug Alcohol Rev</jats:italic> 2009;28:396–405]</jats:p>