18% increase in alcohol-related deaths during the COVVI-19 pandemic

Alcohol -related deaths increased by around 18 % during the pandemic, according to a study which highlights the harmful effects of making alcohol more accessible in an increased era of vulnerability.
Researchers from the Canada Public Health Agency compared the deaths and hospitalizations related to alcohol before and after the pandemic, finding 1600 more than expected deaths. They also noticed that hospitalizations jumped 8 %, with an even higher increase by around 14 % in 2020 and 2021.
This has happened while alcohol retail sales have increased the highest increase in a decade, despite the absence of tourists in Canada. The study indicates that the provinces which designate alcohol as “essential” and authorize alcohol stores to remain open during confinements, while facilitating access to alcohol thanks to home delivery, could have weakened Public health messages on its harmful effects.
According to the Dr Yipu Shi, the main author of the study, these results confirm the harmful effects of excessive alcohol consumption, which can be attributed to the increase in stress, boredom and deterioration of mental health during pandemic .
More vulnerable groups
The study shows that certain demographic groups have undergone more alcohol -related damage than others, especially women, young adults and low -income people, which reveals pre -existing disparities in these groups.
Their conclusions, published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, examined data between 2016 and 2022 and only included deaths that could be fully attributed to alcohol, such as alcohol -related liver disease , which represented nearly 10,800 deaths in total.
They observed that hospital consumption hospitalizations have increased three times more in women than in men – 15.6 % against 5.7 % – which could be attributed to higher stress, to loneliness , exposure to domestic violence and loss of employment compared to men, according to the Dr Shi.
The study also reported an increase of 55 % of mortality in people aged 25 to 44, a “very worrying” increase which suggests that young adults had alcohol problems before the pandemic, and that the situation only worsened.
A higher alcohol consumption was recorded in the highest income group, but mortality rates for this group were the lowest. The Dr Daniel Myran, holder of the Canada Research Chair in the University of Ottawa Family Department, says it highlights the fact that low -income people tend to suffer more damage and run more than risks of chronic diseases.
“It is interesting to note that the 20 % of the wealthiest districts know almost half of the increase in mortality experienced by lower income groups and lower -income neighborhoods. I think that the experiences of the pandemic were very different for people according to their socio-economic status, “he said.
Differences according to the provinces
The Dr Shi argues that the lower prevalence of pre -existing alcohol -related diseases in high -income income could have reduced the harmful effects of increased alcohol consumption. The report also shows regional differences: meadows and British Columbia record three times more deaths related to alcohol than in Ontario and in the Atlantic provinces, and six to seven times more death than to Quebec.
Researchers believe that these differences could be linked to public health restrictions, economic repercussions and the capacity of health care during the pandemic. For example, they say that COVID-19’s major waves in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan have probably delayed care for alcohol-related diseases. On the other hand, the low rate of infection in the “Atlantic bubble” could have been translated as a greater capacity for health care and a reduction in damage.
An increase in alcohol-related deaths was also found in the United States, where it jumped by 29 %, and in 19 European countries, where it increased by 18 %.
The study stresses that the increase in deaths due to alcohol decreased after 2022, as vaccines and treatments against COVID-19 have become available. But the Dr Myran claims that the preparational basic situation is always bad. Before the pandemic, alcohol consumption was already one of the main causes of mortality in Canada.
The problem is that alcohol control policies are not considered a “political victory”, explains the Dr Myran, but the expansion of alcohol sales in convenience stores, the decline in the price of alcohol and the granting of tax alternatives are easy popularity points for politicians. Many provinces have enabled alcohol stores to start delivering alcohol to home during the pandemic, and always do it.
“There is really a very influential and powerful alcohol lobby that regularly meets decision -makers and politicians who are not interested in policies that will reduce the sale of alcohol because this is how their companies earn the Money, ”he explains.
The Dr Tim Naimi, Director of the Canadian Institute for Research on Toxicania at the University of Victoria, says that the decline in alcohol policies that took place during this period and that persisted, as the provision of the ‘Alcohol on delivery applications, will be part of the lasting negative impacts of the pandemic.
“Rather than leading to strengthening alcohol policies for a period when people were even more vulnerable than usual, it led to an erosion of these policies, and it continued,” said -It specified.
The Dr Naimi hopes that this study will arouse reflection among political decision -makers.
—
The health content of the Canadian press obtains funding thanks to a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. The Canadian press is the sole responsible for editorial choices.