Causes almost one in 20 deaths each year worldwide
alcohol kills 2.6 million people every year, the World Health Organization announced on Tuesday 25/06(WHO), a number that remains “unacceptably high” despite a slight decrease in recent years.
The latest WHO report on alcohol and health shows that alcohol causes almost one in 20 deaths every year worldwide, which include among others road accidents, violence, and a multitude of diseases and disorders.
According to the report, 2.6 million deaths were attributed to alcohol in 2019 – based on the latest statistics available – a figure corresponding to 4.7% of deaths globally that year. Three-quarters of these deaths involve men.
«Substance use seriously harms human health, increases the risk of chronic disease and mental illness, and leads to millions of preventable deaths each year. “, highlights the head of the WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in his statement.
In the report, he points out “a certain reduction in alcohol consumption and related diseases since 2010 worldwide“.
However, “the health and social problems caused by alcohol abuse remain unacceptably high >”, said Tedros, who emphasized that young people are disproportionately affected.
The highest rate of alcohol-attributable deaths in 2019 was in the 20-39 age group, 13% of deaths.
Alcohol causes a number of diseases, including << strong>cirrhosis of the liver and certain cancers.
Of the 2.6 million alcohol-related deaths in 2019, the report indicates that 1.6 million people died from non-communicable diseases, including 474,000 from cardiovascular disease and 401,000 from cancer.
Additionally, 724,000 deathsresult from injuries, including traffic and self-inflicted injuries.
Alcohol abuse also makes people more vulnerable to infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, AIDS and pneumonia.
Approx. 209 million people were dependent on alcohol in 2019, i.e. 3.7% of the world's population.
At the same time, individual annual consumption fell slightly, to 5.5 liters in 2019 compared to 5.7 liters nine years earlier, according to the report.
However, the level of consumption is unevenly distributed around the world, with more than 50% of the world's population over the age of 15 abstaining completely.
< p>Europe records thehighest levels of consumption, with 9.2 liters of alcoholper year on average, followed by the US at 7.5 litres.
The lowest consumption is found in predominantly Muslim countries in North Africa , the Middle East and Asia, the report highlights.
On average, a drinker consumed 27 grams of alcohol per day in 2019, according to the report.
This is roughly equivalent to two glasses of wine, two beers, or two shots of hard liquor.
«This level and frequency of drinking is associated with higher risks of many diseases, as well as mortality and disability strong>” that accompany them, WHO warns.
In 2019, 38% of regular drinkers admitted to having engaged in episodes of heavy alcohol consumption, defined as the consumption of at least 60 grams of pure alcohol on one or more occasions during the past month.
Globally, 23.5% of 15-19 year olds are considered regular drinkers.
However, the figure jumps to over 45% for people of this age living in Europe and almost 44% for those living in America.
Given the scale of the problem, WHO highlights the urgent need to improve access to quality treatment for substance use disorders.
In 2019, the proportion of people who came into contact with drug addiction services ranged from less from 1% to a maximum of 35%, depending on the country examined in the study.
“Stigma, discrimination and misconceptions about the effectiveness of treatments contribute to these serious gaps in treatment availability,” said Vladimir Pozniak, head of the alcohol, drug and addictive behaviors division at WHO.
