Alcohol consumption in the Baltic countries and Poland is among the highest globally, causing high all-cause mortality rates. Contrary to Poland, the Baltic countries have adopted many alcohol control policies, including the World Health Organization (WHO) “best buys”. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of these policies, which were implemented between 2001 and 2020, on all-cause mortality. Monthly mortality data for men and women aged 20+ years of age in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland were analysed for 2001 to 2020. A total of 19 alcohol control policies, fulfilling an a-priori defined definition, were implemented between 2001 and 2020 in the countries of interest, and 18 of them could be tested. Interrupted time-series analyses were conducted by employing a generalized additive mixed model (GAMM) for men and women separately. The age-standardized all-cause mortality rate was lowest in Poland and highest in Latvia and had decreased in all countries over the time period. Taxation increases and availability restrictions had short-term effects in all countries, on average reducing the age-standardized all-cause mortality rate among men significantly (a reduction of 2.31% (95% CI 0.71%, 3.93%; p = 0.0045)). All-cause mortality rates among women were not significantly reduced (a reduction of 1.09% (95% CI − 0.02%, 2.20%; p = 0.0554)). In conclusion, the alcohol control policies implemented between 2001 and 2020 reduced all-cause mortality among men 20+ years of age in Baltic countries and Poland, and thus, the practice should be continued.

Walker et al. (Dec. 18 issue)¹ describe the use of cytisine, as compared with nicotine, for smoking cessation. Although cytisine is perceived as a novelty in the West, it has been used in daily medical practice in Poland for more than 50 years.² In 1976, the first English-language study on the use of cytisine in Poland was published, based on the observations of 1968 patients.³ Cytisine is currently undergoing a renaissance in Poland. Two Polish studies — a cohort study conducted in 2003 through 2005⁴ and a randomized, controlled trial conducted in 2006 through 2010⁵ — showed the safety and effectiveness of the drug. In 2012, a Polish generic drug company broke the monopoly by introducing a new cytisine product, Desmoxan. Cytisine is very inexpensive in Poland, costing under $20 for full treatment. Its consumption has grown by factor of 10 since 2000 ( Figure 1 ). In 2013 alone, after cytisine became available over the counter and was heavily advertised, sales of the drug doubled. The use of cytisine is widespread, and it is considered to be safe by medical professionals and consumers. It seems that the use of cytisine is a major factor behind the decline in smoking in Poland — in the past 2 years, 500,000 smokers have quit.⁶ It is certainly desirable for this success to be replicated elsewhere.

Introduction Hypertension is the most common risk factor for cardiovascular disease and is a significant predictor of premature death and cardiovascular disability. The aim of this cohort study was to evaluate prevalence of hypertension and cardiovascular risk factors in studied population of...