Alcohol Kills More Than...

Back on February 11, 2011, Reuters reported out of Geneva from the World Health Organization (WHO) that alcohol causes nearly 4% of all deaths worldwide which is more than AIDS, tuberculosis or violence.

With incomes on the rise in countries around the world Africa, Asia, India and South Africa along with many other countries are now seeing binge drinking as a problem.  This is developing due to the added incomes according to the United Nations agency.   What is interesting about this is that many countries have weak control policies and this issue remains a low priority for most governments despite drinking's heavy toll on society from road accidents, violence, disease, child neglect and job absenteeism.

According to the Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health from WHO they said that approximately 2.5 million people die each year from alcohol related causes.  "The harmful use of alcohol is especially fatal for younger age groups and alcohol is the world's leading risk factor for death among males ages 15-59," the report found.

Every 5th death is due to harmful drinking in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)...the highest rate.  Binge drinking is often tied to and leads toward risky behavior and is now prevalent in Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the Ukraine and is rising elsewhere again according to WHO.

"Worldwide, about 11% of drinkers have weekly occasions, with men outnumbering women by four to one.  Men consistently engage in hazardous drinking at much higher levels than women in all regions," the report said.

Last May, 193 health ministers from WHO agreed to try and curb binge drinking and other growing forms of excessive alcohol use through higher taxes on alcoholic drinks and tighter marketing restrictions but I doubt this will change the attitudes of people.

In a milder connection, alcohol is a casual factor in 60 types of diseases and injuries according to WHO's first report on alcohol since 2004.  It's  consumption is linked to cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, poisonings, road traffic accidents, violence, and several types of cancers including colorectal, breast, larynx and liver.

"Six or seven years ago we didn't have strong evidence of a causal relationship between drinking and breast cancer.  Now we do," Vladimir Poznyak head of WHO's substance abuse unit who coordinated the report, as he told Reuters.

The statistics revealed from this report are interesting as the alcohol consumption rates vary greatly from high levels in developed countries to the lowest levels in North Africa, sub-Sararan Africa and southern Asia along with the large Muslim populations that often abstain from drinking.  Homemade or illegally produced alcohol (or those falling outside governmental control as and tax nets) account for nearly 30% of total worldwide adult consumption...some is toxic.

In France and other European countries with high levels of adult per capital consumption, drinking is rather low for those who indulge in "episodic" drinking which suggests that those who drink more regularly tend to have more moderate drinking patterns.    According to WHO, light to moderate drinking can have a beneficial impact on heart disease and stroke, "however, the beneficial cardio-protective effect of drinking disappears with heavy drinking occasions," it said.

Again, to try and get this situation under control the WHO has found that one of the best ways to curb or control young people and their consumption is to raise taxes on alcohol the report said.  Setting perimeters on the buying, consuming and regulating the alcohol levels in drivers also reduced the abuse if enforced.

Another effort has been by some countries to restrict the sale and distribution of alcohol at sporting events.  "Yet not enough countries use these and other effective policy options to prevent death, disease and injury attributable to alcohol consumption" WHO said.

With this added information one might wonder what the breweries themselves have to say on the subject.  Diageo and Anheuser Busch InBev have said they recognize the importance of industry self-regulation and the need to address alcohol abuse and promote information on being drunk, drinking and illegal underage drinking.  The SABMiller brewery has warned that policy measure like minimum pricing and high excise taxes on alcohol could cause more public healthier harm than good by leading more people to drink homemade or illegally produced alcohol.  Not surprising on their "concern" for someone cutting in on their bottom-line.