A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that in 2019, 2.6 million deaths were attributable to alcohol consumption, representing 4.7% of all deaths occurring that year, while 600,000 deaths were due to psychoactive drug use. Notably, 2 million deaths attributable to alcohol and 400,000 deaths due to drugs were recorded among men.
The WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol, Health and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders (Global status report on alcohol and health and treatment of substance use disordersin English), based on 2019 data, provides a comprehensive picture of the public health consequences of alcohol and drug use and the global status of alcohol use and substance use disorder treatment. According to the document, approximately 400 million people worldwide had alcohol and drug use disorders at that time. Of these, 209 million people were alcohol dependent.
“Substance use poses serious health risks, increasing the risk of chronic diseases and mental health problems, and tragically causing millions of preventable deaths each year. Substance use places a heavy burden on families and communities by increasing exposure to accidents, injuries and violence,” said Dr.r Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. “To build a healthier and more equitable society, we must urgently commit to taking bold action that reduces the negative health and social impacts of alcohol use and makes treatment accessible and affordable. related to substance use. »
The authors of the report underline the urgency of acting more quickly at the global level to achieve target 3.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, by reducing the consumption of alcohol and drugs and improving access to quality treatment for substance use disorders.
Health consequences of alcohol consumption
The report’s authors point out that although alcohol-related death rates have fallen slightly since 2010, the total number of deaths due to alcohol consumption remains far too high: it was 2.6 million in 2019. , with the highest figures recorded in the European Region and the African Region. Death rates from alcohol consumption are highest in low-income countries, per liter of alcohol consumed, and lowest in high-income countries.
Of all alcohol-attributable deaths in 2019, an estimated 1.6 million deaths were due to non-communicable diseases, including 474,000 from cardiovascular diseases and 401,000 from cancer.
Some 724,000 deaths were linked to injuries, including road accidents, self-harm and interpersonal violence. On the other hand, 284,000 deaths were linked to communicable diseases. Thus, it has been shown that alcohol consumption increases the risk of HIV transmission, because it increases the risk of unprotected sexual intercourse, and increases the risk of being infected by tuberculosis and dying from it, because it suppresses a wide range of immune responses. In 2019, the highest share (13%) of alcohol-attributable deaths occurred among young people aged 20 to 39.
Alcohol consumption trends
Total alcohol consumption per capita in the global population decreased slightly from 5.7 litres in 2010 to 5.5 litres in 2019. The highest levels of per capita consumption that year were observed in the European Region (9.2 litres) and the Region of the Americas (7.5 litres).
The level of alcohol consumption per capita among drinkers amounts to an average of 27 grams of pure alcohol per day, the equivalent of approximately two glasses of wine, two bottles (33 cl) of beer or two glasses (4 cl) of spirits. This level and frequency of consumption is associated with increased risks of many health problems and increases mortality and disability.
In 2019, 38% of current drinkers had engaged in “occasional heavy drinking”, defined as consuming at least 60g of pure alcohol on one or more occasions in the previous month, i.e. equivalent of 4 or 5 glasses of wine, bottles of beer or glasses of spirits. Regular consumption of large quantities of alcohol was widespread among men.
Globally, 23.5% of all young people aged 15 to 19 were drinking alcohol at the time of the survey, with the highest rates for this age group recorded in the Region European (45.9%) and the Americas (43.9%).
Gaps in Substance Use Disorder Treatment Coverage
Effective treatments for substance use disorders exist, but treatment coverage remains too low. In 2019, in reporting countries, the proportion of people linked to substance use treatment services ranged from less than 1% to 35% at most.
Most of the 145 countries that reported data did not have a specific budget line, nor did they have data on government spending on treatment for these disorders. While self-help and peer support groups are useful resources for those with substance use disorders, nearly half of the countries that responded to the survey reported not having them.
Stigma, discrimination and misconceptions about treatment effectiveness contribute to these serious gaps in treatment availability and the low priority given to these disorders by health and development organizations.
Actions taken
To achieve SDG target 3.5 more quickly and reduce the health and social burden of substance use, governments and partners need to act more decisively in eight strategic areas. They need:
- strengthen awareness-raising action through a coordinated global advocacy campaign;
- expand the prevention and treatment capacities of health and social protection systems;
- strengthen the training of health professionals;
- recommit to implementing the Global Alcohol Action Plan 2022-2030 with emphasis on the set of measures ” SAFER ” (in English) ;
- amplify international efforts for capacity building and knowledge transfer;
- mobilize civil society organizations, professional associations and people who have experienced these problems;
- improve multi-level monitoring systems and corresponding research capabilities; And
- intensify the mobilization and allocation of resources and innovative financing mechanisms so as to strengthen the capacities of health and social systems.
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