On January 31, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. The cessation of the production of fruit and berry wines will be an effective measure to prevent the population's alcoholisation. This opinion was expressed to a BELTA correspondent by Elena Martynova, chief physician of the Vitebsk Regional Clinical Center for Psychiatry and Narcology, Candidate of Medical Sciences. In her opinion, the decision to stop the production of ordinary fortified fruit wines in Belarus in 2012 is fully justified, as the consumption of cheap alcoholic beverages significantly affects the level of population alcoholisation, the development of chronic alcoholism, and, consequently, mortality from alcohol abuse. Scientists from the laboratory for monitoring alcohol problems at the Grodno State Medical University have established a direct correlation between alcohol consumption and mortality: an increase in alcohol consumption by 1 liter per capita increases the overall mortality rate by 1%. "Therefore, of course, if the cheap segment wine is removed from the market, the situation should stabilize," the doctor believes. Several factors will contribute to this. Firstly, the opportunity for the population, especially young people, to start drinking alcohol will decrease. In this case, the target group is people who do not yet suffer from alcohol dependence but cannot resist temptation. A person who wants to drink, but does not yet suffer from alcoholism, will not fundamentally seek out alcohol: if alcohol is available for sale today, they will buy it, and then, out of habit, will run for more; if not, then that's fine. Thus, this measure will become a deterrent to the spread of alcoholism. Its effectiveness is confirmed by the currently widespread campaigns to restrict alcohol sales. Opponents of these campaigns often argue that alcoholics, like pigs seeking dirt, will always find something and somewhere to drink. Indeed, those who are already dependent will find it: they will travel any distance for cheap alcohol, turn to illegal producers and distributors of cheap alcoholic products and surrogates. However, in this case, the police should block the development of the underground market, and the prevention of the growth of this segment will depend on the effectiveness of their work.