A campaign against alcohol was launched, in which alcohol prices were raised and sales outlets cut, enforced by punitive measures (11). Although this large scale anti-alcohol campaign was primarily introduced to tackle the loss in productivity from widespread alcohol use, it also had an impact on health.

State production and sales of alcoholic beverages (the only legal source of alcohol in the USSR) dropped to less than one third, the prices of alcoholic beverages were raised, further measures were taken against the production of strong homemade alcoholic beverages, and legal sanctions were enforced. Further, the network of medical establishments for compulsory treatment of alcoholism was expanded.