THE NUMBER of young people drinking alcohol has been rising in Slovakia. According to health experts, alcoholism has had a massive impact on the young generation aged 15 to 16. They blame the situation on the lack of efficient alcohol restrictions in Slovakia, the daily Národná obroda reported.
The State Health Institute's Ľubica Majtanová warned that if Slovakia does not strengthen prevention efforts, this central European country will have a generation of young alcohol addicts on its hands.
Surveys show that a third of the young people aged 15 to 16 have already experienced a hangover while every fifth teenager between 17 and 18 have had the experience.
According to statistics, in 2003 Slovaks drunk just as much as in the nineties. Alcohol consumption annually reaches 8 to 9 litres of alcohol per capita.
Compiled by Beata Balogová from press reports
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