According to the World Health Organization’s Global Information System on Alcohol and Health (GISAH)1, harmful use of alcohol results in 2.5 million deaths annually. The report also mentions that there are 60 different types of diseases where alcohol is a significant causal element.
Alcohol, as any family member of an alcoholic knows too well, also causes harm to the well-being and health of people surrounding the drinker. In 2005, the worldwide total consumption was equal to 6.13 liters of pure alcohol for every person aged 15 years and older. This is just what was recorded, and unrecorded consumption is estimated to make that statistic about thirty percent higher.
In 2010, WHO launched its first global report on substance use disorders and resources to deal with this global problem of epidemic proportions.
As part of this project, the WHO collected data from 147 countries, which representats 88% of the world’s population. One of its findings was that alcohol kills 35 people and illicit drugs kill four people per every 100,000 people annually.
Dr. Shekhar Saxena, director of WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse said that alcohol and illicit drugs are harming millions of people the world over in many different ways, including injuries, cardiovascular disease, HIV, Hepatitis C and several cancers. Dr. Saxena added, “WHO’s new report on substance abuse lays out what resources exist today in different parts of the world to reduce this harm, and highlights critical gaps in service delivery which should be overcome.”
Men are more likely to be affected by alcoholism and its burden of disease and injuries, which in 2004, accounted for 7.6% of all diseases and injuries among men. In the same year, 1.4% of women’s injuries and disease were linked to alcohol use, according to the report.
Another report also published by WHO, also calls for action to reduce the health impact of harmful alcohol use. In their Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health3 published early in 2011, data is provided on over 100 countries on alcohol consumption. In this latest report, they found that twenty percent of men in the Russian Federation and neighboring countries die from alcohol-related causes.
Harmful use of alcohol has other significant impacts on public health:
Almost 4% of all deaths worldwide are related to alcohol. Most alcohol-related deaths result from injuries, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and liver cirrhosis.
Globally, 320,000 young people aged 15-29 years die annually, from alcohol-related causes, accounting for 9% of all deaths in that age group.
From 1999, when WHO first began to report on alcohol policies by various countries, more than 34 countries have adopted some type of formal policies to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. Restrictions on alcohol marketing and drunk driving have increased, but there is no clear movement on most preventive measures. Many countries have weak and ineffective alcohol policies and prevention programs, according to this report.
Narconon has been helping alcoholics and drug addicts to effectively deal with their addiction and get sober and straight and stay that way for more than 40 years. Since 1966, on six continents of the world, each Narconon rehab center has effectively helped people stay free of alcohol.
If you suspect a family member might be an alcoholic, call today.
Resources:
http://www.who.int/gho/alcohol/en/
http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/Media/en/
http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/en/index.html
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2011/alcohol_20110211/en/index.html