With all the news and fretting about emerging health risks from bisphenol A to natural-gas fracking, we tend to forget some of the age-old ways humans kill themselves prematurely. A new World Health Organization report reminds us of one, alcohol, noting that 4% of deaths worldwide – one in 25 – is related to booze.
That number climbs to 6% for men, while a whopping one in five males in vodka-loving Russia and surrounding countries succumbs to alcohol-related illness or injury. By comparison, high cholesterol is blamed for 4.5% of world deaths, physical inactivity 5.5%, tobacco 8.7% and high-blood pressure – the winner – 12.8%
Statistics suggest that consumption was stable through the first half of the 2000s in the Americas, Europe, eastern Mediterranean and western Pacific, but sharp increases were seen in Africa and South-East Asia, the WHO report said. Interestingly, most humans do not drink, including almost half of all men and two thirds of women.
The WHO says many countries have taken little action to address the ill effects of alcohol, like imposing booze taxes, restricting retail access and combating impaired driving, all measures Canada has carried out. Said WHO official Dr Ala Alwan in a statement:
Much more needs to be done to reduce the loss of life and suffering associated with harmful alcohol use.