A new report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) states that 2.6 million deaths per year were attributable to alcohol consumption, accounting for 4.7 percent of all deaths and 0.6 million deaths to psychoactive drug use.
Some two million of alcohol and 0.4 million of drug-attributable deaths were among men.
WHO says its global status report on alcohol and health and treatment of substance use disorders provides a comprehensive update based on 2019 data on the public health impact of alcohol and drug use and situation with alcohol consumption and treatment of substance use disorders worldwide.
The report shows an estimated 400 million people lived with alcohol and drug use disorders globally. Of this, 209 million people lived with alcohol dependence.
“Substance use severely harms individual health, increasing the risk of chronic diseases, mental health conditions and tragically resulting in millions of preventable deaths every year.
“It places a heavy burden on families and communities, increasing exposure to accidents, injuries and violence,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The report highlights “the urgent need” to accelerate actions globally towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal target 3.5 by 2030 by reducing alcohol and drug consumption and improving access to quality treatment for substance use disorders.
It also points out that despite some reduction in the alcohol-related death rates since 2010, the overall number of deaths due to alcohol consumption remains “unacceptably high” and amounts to 2.6 million in 2019, with the highest numbers in Europe and Africa.
The death rates due to alcohol consumption per litre of alcohol consumed are highest in low-income countries and lowest in high-income countries, according to the report.
Of all deaths attributable to alcohol in 2019, an estimated 1.6 million deaths were from noncommunicable diseases, including 474,000 deaths from cardiovascular diseases and 401,000 from cancer.
Some 724,000 deaths were due to injuries, such as those from traffic crashes, self-harm and interpersonal violence.
Earlier this month, Southern Africa Alcohol Policy Alliance (Saapa) Chapter Limited Chairperson Jefferson Milanzi called for the curbing of alcohol abuse for Malawi to achieve its 2063 development aspirations.
Milanzi observed that perpetually drunk people cannot effectively contribute to the development of the country.
Ministry of Health Head of Non-communicable Diseases and Mental Health Jonathan Chiwanda stressed the need for more awareness on harmful effects of alcohol abuse.
“Harmful use of alcohol can lead to complications such as mental health illnesses and cardiovascular disease,” he said.
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