MOSCOW, January 16 (RIA Novosti) - A total of 1,184 Muscovites died of alcohol poisoning in 2007, and nearly 6,000 were hospitalized, the head of the Russian capital's market and services department said on Wednesday.

A total of 128 people died after drinking bootleg alcohol last year, and over 260 children under 14 received medical treatment in alcohol-related cases, Vladimir Malyshkov said.

Alcohol poisoning cases are regularly reported in Russia. According to the consumer rights regulator, Rospotrebnadzor, alcohol poisoning claims over 40,000 lives in Russia annually. Other reports put the death toll many times higher. The U.S., with a population almost twice as large, sees around 300 deaths a year from alcohol poisoning.

Russian officials are currently pushing for a state monopoly on alcohol sales.

However, critics have slammed the move, saying that a single excise duty on alcohol could trigger a 70% price hike for medicines in Russia and make illegal alcohol production a more lucrative business.