I. Problem
Among many problems which are actual today for our society, the problem of alcoholism is on one of the first places. The damage which this trouble makes to separate people, to families, collectives and all society as a whole is too great. Alcohol consumption in Kazakhstan is high as for soft alcohol drinks as beer and wine as for strong alcohol drinks such as vodka and whisky. [1]In Kazakhstan consumption of alcohol drinks is increasing but middle degree of consumed alcohol drinks is decreasing. Increased number of consumed soft alcohol drinks is because of growing interest of underage population in alcohol; it could be explained by availability, accessibility and advertisement, that provokes young population to buy and drink this beverages, that is why population now have alcoholics among children. [2]According to official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan Kairat Barmakov, because of unlimited realization of alcoholic production, each third murder in the country is made under alcohol condition. Also drinking of alcohol drinks in youth age could be reflected in children psychology. [3]Alcohol consumption is strongly reflected on people’s reproductive system, one of the main reasons of men’s infertility is alcohol. In a country with insufficient demographic situation alcohol consumption problem should be observed in different way, so that our future generation will be healthy productive and normally up bring. Alcohol affects every organ in the body. The problem of alcohol consumption has a place in many post soviet countries and the reason is the “revolution” that happened in several month after Mr. Gorbachev became the head of “CK”, this situation made lots of people unemployed or with any perception of even tomorrow day. There are a lot of professionals who were working in different areas of this big country, who then became alcohol addicted, which then led to scarceness of qualified workers. Alcohol also is the result of an increased monetary losses because of accidents connected with the use of alcohol on a workplace, as well as reduction of work capacity because of «pohmelniy sindrom», as example to take surgeon before operation, or flight, train operation manager which could lead to real disaster. Treating of such a disease as alcohol addiction is very important issue for whole nation and also for Health Ministry of Kazakhstan. Not less serious problem is represented with a female alcoholism, and that more and more women becoming alcohol addicted at young age and it is especially terrible. It fatally affects not only on their health, but also on health of posterity. Thus treatment of a female alcoholism is interfaced to special complexities which are connected with features of female physiology and psychology. Moreover [4]experts of National Cancer Institute, have established, that alcohol is the reason for 70 % of cases of development of the most widespread type of a cancer of a breast. 184 thousand women of the post climacteric period took part in research during seven years, which shows that those women who drinks a glass of alcohol per day are risking develop cancer by 7%. [5]Those who used to drink two glasses of alcohol increase the risk by 32%. [6]Drinking alcohol increases the risk of cancers of the mouth, esophagus, pharynx, larynx, and liver in men and women, and of breast cancer in women. In general, these risks increase after about one daily drink for women and two daily drinks for men. Another research experiment; it was found out that [7]children of mothers abusing alcoholic drinks, cannot accept fast decisions and actively operate in unfamiliar situation. Researchers from scientific research institute of pharmacology of the Russian academy of medical sciences make female rats drank from 1-th pregnancy till 20-th day. Then studied mental abilities of their children when those became adults that how they made their decision. Treatment of alcoholism nowadays is carried out by many experts, firms and clinics. But not all distant methods and means of treatment of alcoholism can guarantee result. The condition of public hospitals of this sphere in Kazakhstan could be softly called as very bad, there is no rehabilitation centers where people could get their treatment and period of relaxing, but they get “Narkodispanser” with awful conditions, food, personnel and may be harmful and cheap drugs. As for private hospitals it is Ok, tidy, light rooms, tasty food different types of methodologies of treatment, but also it cost a lot, not for ordinary people. The laws of republic of Kazakhstan protects children from alcohol consumption [8]“Article 37. Protection of the child against harmful influence of alcoholic production and tobacco products
1. Parents, other law representatives of the child, the state bodies, and also the organizations which are carrying out functions of education and formation of the child, are obliged to propagandize a healthy way of life and harm of alcoholic production and tobacco products.
2. Sale of alcoholic drinks, tobacco and tobacco products to child is forbidden.
5. Realization of alcoholic production in children's establishments, the organizations of formation and in territories adjoining to them in radius of hundred meters is forbidden.”
II. Goals
A. Constrain of selling of alcohol drinks to underage population.
B. To reconsider the system of alcohol addicted treating hospitals.
Making rules strict on selling alcohol drinks to young population our government would provide bigger healthy proportion of children and teenagers, which then would lead to less people with alcohol addiction, because in young age people are more risking to be addicted. From other hand strict rules and punishment will provide families with children with normal development, a lot of parents assume that alcohol is one of the main enemy of their children on the way to become person. Drinking could be called as stopper of brain development of youth population because their brain is like sponge perceiving all the information. [9]The social costs of underage drinking in US are conservatively estimated at $53 billion, including $19 billion from traffic crashes and $29 billion from violent crime.
The condition of hospitals “narkodispansers” as it was mentioned before is worse that bad, from personal knowledge it could be explained as dark corridors, untidy beds and rooms, angry personal, strict rules. Alcohol addiction does not have any differences between people, social class gender or economical layer this any people could be ill with this disease, but the conditions that are in these hospitals are only for those who are under everything in this life, only they could bear it. But for people who are trying to be treated, who are somewhere upper than conditions in narkodispancer they would not even try to do treating in this kind of organization.
III. Policy Proposals
1. Strictly ban on selling of alcohol drinks to underage population and
selling it in big numbers.
2. Ban on drinking of alcohol drinks in public places
3. Communication of experience with other countries.
Policy option that could be used here is that government in this case Ministry of internal affairs and Committee of National Defence should control sales person. Increase awareness of underage drinking and its negative consequences; enhance broad-based support for preventing and reducing underage drinking. No problem can be solved until it has been recognized as a problem. Because the reason is the nation and healthy future of whole population of Republic of Kazakhstan. Broad-based support arises from public awareness - from knowledge of the latest data that confirm the problem and from realistic proposals for its solution.[10]Under 16 years 6%, up to 80% under 24 year adolescents drink alcohol in Kazakhstan.Preventing and reducing underage drinking is a collective responsibility of government at all levels, institutions and organizations in the private sector, and adult citizens, particularly parents. Adults play a major role in facilitating underage drinking as well as in preventing it. Controlling all alcohol selling shops and supermarkets is very difficult so obligatory video controlling system would provide security and secure alcohol and tobacco selling. Alcohol consumption will also not decrease if there would be such a great amount of sold drinks. Because people in Kazakhstan are buying drinks without any measure; tens and tens of bottles and there is no regulation concerning this fact. In the case when those changes would be appeared the number of children who drink alcohol would greatly decrease and it only one problem that would be solved. Another is health problem how many life’s of these children would be saved, or avoid them to become disabled. Whole health of nation would improve. Number of accidents also would decrease, because one of the main factor of accident appearance is alcohol. Decreasing of number of bottles sold would dramatically change a lot of social problems such as family, collective and friends. Losses when the reason is alcohol would also fall down, not speaking again about accidents. Working facilities of future generation as well as problems of lack of professionals would improve.
What are sources of increasing alcohol consumption? Advertisement, popularity and accessibility – these three factors could be called as one of the main factors. Drinking in public places is huge problem of our society and disrespectful concerning all other people. US laws does not give permission to drink alcohol in public places without covering it in special bag, In UAE it is forbidden to drink in public places at all, moreover there is no alcohol drinks in free trade in some of emirates like Dubai, Abu-Dhabi and Sharjah. In Kazakhstan and maybe in all CIS countries it is natural that some one would seat on the bench and drink even strong alcohol drinks such as vodka. This permission and acceptance of society provokes and advertise alcohol among all levels of society, gender and age.
Kazakhstan has made progress in developing but a lot of things need to be done before Kazakhstan could call it self as developed country. There are a lot of countries that has well structured health care sector and they have good results in this sphere, so government should use best examples of other countries in health care system and to adopt them in a country, especially it should be done in national “narkodispancers”, it was mentioned before that Kazakhstan has undeveloped alcohol addiction treating institutions. What if make this hospitals from dispanser to rehabilitation centres, like hotels with green grass outside, light rooms and e.t.c. not dividing the rooms for free and payable but make all this sphere free and accessible so that people of different classes could afford themselves and treating in this centres, make the rate of confidentiality so that treating of people would not known to everyone who wants to get any information. Only changing this situation this sphere of healthcare could raise its authority.
IV Policy Analysis
Ban on selling alcohol to underage and selling it in big numbers would constantly constrain of selling of alcohol drinks to underage population. This tool is most appropriate in solving the problem of alcohol consumption in Kazakhstan. Society would get sharp decrease of alcohol consumer among underage population, because the number is not good for country with such high level of growing GDP. Families with children who consume alcohol would be thankful for this law because it is real disaster for parents. Number of crimes would decrease because most part of committed crimes are made in condition of alcoholic intoxication. Number of alcoholics would radically decrease, because the number of sold alcohol to during one deal would be controlled, so that it would be impossible to buy big number of drinks during one purchase. Number of emergency cases because of alcohol, would not be such many as now [11]Abusing alcohol is the reason of half of references for emergency medical aid in Britain. In Kazakhstan statistics is not positive [12]1909 cases of death because of alcohol drinks and [13]2,2 million people dies in the world from the same reason, from [14]15-30 % of injuries on production occurs in the reason of alcohol. Weaknesses of policy are society which is not concerned in whole with the problem, if child would ask adult to buy cigarettes or alcohol there are not so much people who would refuse, or if someone want to buy a big number of bottles of alcohol he would ask someone in the shop to buy and of course nobody would refuse. Placing video cameras for small shps is very
[1]Trend snizheniya gradusa, Retrieved February 9, from http://www.zakon.kz/our/news/news.asp?id=30080383
[2]Anatoliy Vaiskopf, Kazakhtsan vvedet monopoliu na alkogol Retrieved April 16, 2008 from http://www.newzzz.kz/story/kazahstan_vvedet_monopoliiu_na_alkogol_.html
[3]Reproductivnoe zdorov’e retrieved February 9, from http://www.zhas.kz/reproduct_health
[4] Daily Telegraph
[5]Ibid
[6]National Cancer Institute Retrieved April 16, 2008 from http://progressreport.cancer.gov/doc_detail.asp?pid=1&did=2007&chid=71&coid=706&mid=
[7]Pregnant women should listen to rats Retrieved April 16, 2008 from http://www.mamochka.kz/article.php?article_id=194
[8]The of Republic of Kazakhstan Retrieved April 16, 2008 from http://www.kaznpu.kz/doc/20071110124124.html
[9]Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 1999
[10]Kimep L-drive Natalia Danilovich folder Lecture week 12
[11]Tobacco and Alcohol are more dangerous than Marihuana and Ecstasy Retrieved April 19, 2008 from http://www.titus.kz/?type=nauka&previd=3282
[12] Uliya Semykina,Hostages of Bakhus, Retrieved April 19, 2008 from http://www.continent.kz/2006/22/5.htm
[13]Nadezhda Uzunova, Business is concerned about increasing alcoholism and drug abuse in the offices Retrieved April 20, 2008 from http://www.zakon.kz/our/news/news.asp?id=30174233
[14]Ibid