About 30 million people die every year due to alcohol consumption in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) said this information in a report yesterday. However, the death rate has decreased slightly in the last few years. But it is still “unacceptably high”.
According to the latest WHO report on alcohol and health, alcohol is responsible for nearly one in every 20 deaths worldwide each year. Drunk driving, alcohol-related violence, torture, disease and illness are behind these deaths.
According to WHO data, 2.6 million people died due to alcohol consumption in 2019; Which was about 4.7 percent of the total deaths in the world that year. About three-quarters of those who died were men.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said, “Excess alcohol consumption seriously harms human health. It increases the risk of chronic diseases, worsens mental health and sadly kills millions of people every year. But these deaths are preventable. However, since 2010, alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm has decreased slightly in the world, he said.
The WHO chief believes that the harm to health and society caused by alcohol consumption is still unacceptably high. He said, especially the youth are suffering more losses.
People aged 20 to 39 years old accounted for the most (13 percent) alcohol-related deaths in 2019.
Alcohol consumption can cause serious diseases like liver cirrhosis and cancer.
According to the WHO report, of the number of people who died due to alcohol consumption in 2019, about 1.6 million deaths were caused by non-communicable diseases. Among them, 4 lakh 74 thousand people died of heart disease, 4 lakh 10 thousand of cancer and 7 lakh 24 thousand of injuries. This includes road accidents and self-inflicted injuries.
The report also said that excessive consumption of alcohol increases the risk of contracting infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV and pneumonia.
In 2019, approximately 209 million people worldwide were addicted to alcohol; Which is 3.7 percent of the total population.
Meanwhile, the amount of pure alcohol consumed per capita in the world has slightly decreased to an average of five and a half liters. Nine years ago it was 5.7 litres, the report said.
Per capita alcohol consumption is highest in European countries; Which is an average of 9.2 liters. Next are the American countries; An average of 7.5 liters. Alcohol consumption is lowest in Muslim-majority countries in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
