Adult mortality in the Asian part of the former USSR: similarity and disparity of epidemiological profiles in Armenia, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan

Géraldine Duthé, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Michel Guillot, University of Pennsylvania
France Meslé, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Jacques Vallin, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Irina Badurashvili, Georgian Centre of Population Research
Karine Kuyumjyan, National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia
Liudmila Torgasheva, NSC Kyrgyzstan
Mikhail B. Denissenko, Moscow State University

The former USSR region has been experiencing a major health crisis. In Russia - the largest and most studied former Soviet republic - unfavorable mortality trends have been observed for several decades, and these trends have been attributed to a large extent to high consumption of strong alcoholic beverages. In this presentation, we focus on adult mortality trends in three countries located in the Asian part of the former USSR: Armenia and Georgia in the Caucasus, and Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. We examine similarities and differences in the epidemiological profiles of these three countries. We find that mortality attributable to alcohol contributes to a great extent to adult mortality levels in these countries. However, we also find that levels and trends vary greatly from one country to another. These differences may be explained by differences in the proportion of the population that is Slavic, but also by cultural differences among native populations in the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages.