Alcohol kills 2.6 million people a year

Alcohol kills 2.6 million people a year, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday, as the number remains “unacceptably high” despite a slight decline recorded in recent years.

The latest report from the UN agency on alcohol and health highlights that almost one in 20 deaths each year worldwide are caused by alcohol, including road traffic accidents, violence, abuse and a variety of related diseases and disorders.

According to the report, 2.6 million deaths were attributable to alcohol in 2019 (the latest statistics available) or 4.7% of deaths worldwide that year, with men accounting for three quarters of these deaths.

“Substance use seriously harms human health, increases the risk of chronic and mental illness and tragically leads to millions of preventable deaths every year,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus lamented in a released statement.

The report also highlights “definite reductions in alcohol consumption and related diseases worldwide since 2010” and “social and health problems associated with alcohol misuse remain unacceptably high”, with young people disproportionately affected People.

According to the report, the highest proportion of alcohol-related deaths in 2019 occurred in the 20 to 39 age group (13% of deaths).

According to the report, the average person consumed 27 grams of alcohol per day in 2019, which is the equivalent of two glasses of wine, two beers or two drinks.

“This level and frequency of consumption is associated with an increased risk of contracting many diseases, as well as associated mortality and disability,” the WHO warns in the document.

Taking into account the data, WHO warns of the urgent need to improve access to quality treatment for substance use disorders, remembering that in 2019 the proportion of people in contact with drug services ranged from less than 1% to a maximum of 35%, depending on the country being studied.