An organisation meant to protect East-Europeans from Alcohol abuse was set-up in Rome. Wit the launch of the new body, we found out some surprising facts about Romanians living in Italy and suffering from alcoholism. Romanians have he same Bahic preferences as their Italian cousins, but they find it more difficult to escape from alcohol's charming traps, suffering of a higher degree of dependency. Following a two-year study, Doctor Mauro Ceccanti, university professor doctor at the Clinic Medicine Department of La Sapienza University reached a shocking conclusion: 25% of the Romanian immigrants face alcohol issues.
The Alcohol SOS East-West Commission introduced end of February in Italy's capital is actually a permanent working group uniting several profile Italian organisations. Among supporters are Italian state institutions, one foundation specialised in treating and preventing alcoholism and several Romanian associations. One of the projects of the newly-founded group was to print a bi-lingual informative leaflet, targeting Romanians and Italians.
Professor Mauro Ceccanti has been working on the alcohol dependency issue for over a decade. He coordinates the Centre for Alcoholic Reference for Lazio Region (CRARL). During the last years, he carried out quite a number of studies on alcohol dependency, targeting various people groups and even nationalities. His conclusions were surprising.
Romanian alcoholics count twice the number of Italians
Romanians suffering from alcohol issues, as most of the immigrants coming to live in the Peninsula, are twice more numerous than the locals from a ratio perspective. "It is not only the Romanians who face ore serious alcohol problems, but foreigners in general", professor Ceccanti explains. "Immigrants have faced a major stress situation related to adaptation to the new environment.
