The number of alcohol-dependent people in Ukraine ranges from anywhere one to five million. This is quite an alarming figure, scientific head of the National Addiction Therapy Center Prof. Yuriy Pakin told KW.
“However, it is not the total number of alcoholics that counts, rather their age structure. A typical alcoholic – a person who systematically abuses alcohol for many years – has grown much younger over the past twenty years. Earlier, people older than 40-50 with alcohol dependence turned to specialists for help. Now, people become alcoholics at a much younger age – 20-30,” Prof. Pakin stressed.
Teenage alcoholism in Ukraine is among the highest in the world and is much more dangerous than in other categories. According to the World Health Organization reports, around 40% of Ukrainian teenagers consume alcoholic beverages at least once a month.
