The Chisinau-based church “Buna Vestire” (“The Annunciation”) calls on the persons who abuse alcohol to seek help from the doctors and the Church so as to be cured of this passion because those who are drunkards will not know the kingdom of God, according to the Bible. “We must take attitude towards these people who pretend to be Christians, but are alcoholics. The Church, regardless of denomination, must promote the true face of Christianity. Who urge the persons who abuse alcohol to repent,” Vasile Filat, priest of “Buna Vestire” Church, said in a news conference held at Info-Prim Neo. According to Vasile Filat, alcoholism in Moldova is reaching epidemic proportions. A study of the World Health Organization shows that Moldova has the highest rate of alcoholism – 18.2 liters per person. In 2003, it ranked fourth by this indicator. Referring to the WHO statistics, the priest said alcohol abuse kills 2.5 million people worldwide each year. This figure is higher than the number of deaths from AIDS and tuberculosis. “The number of girls and women who drink alcohol in large quantities is on the rise. According to the World Health Organization, the alcohol is much more dangerous for the fetus than any of the drugs,” said Vasile Filat. He also said that the teens are most exposed to the risk of becoming dependent on alcohol. Specialists of the Ministry of Health warn that the medicament treatment of alcohol addicts has a short-term effect or no effect. The priest cited the Bible, saying drinking leads to poverty. The fact that Moldova tops the rankings by the rate of alcoholism is related to the fact that it is the poorest country in the EU. “We call upon the mass media to address this issue more often and upon the school teachers to cooperate with the Church in order to promote the word of God,” said Vasile Filat. According to the Ministry of Health, 3.4% of Moldova’s population abuses alcohol. As many as 5 917 persons died of alcoholism in 2006.