UN urges action to curb harmful use of alcohol, reduce drink-related deaths

(February 14, 2011) The harmful consumption of alcohol kills an estimated 2.5 million people across the world every year, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) said in a report unveiled last week, urging governments to implement measures to prevent drinking habits that damage health and cause other social problems. According to the Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health, released on Friday, harmful alcohol use is increasingly affecting the younger generations and drinkers in the developing countries. According to the report, nearly 4 per cent of all deaths globally are related to alcohol, and most alcohol-related deaths result from injuries, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and liver cirrhosis. Globally, 6.2 per cent of all male deaths are related to alcohol, compared to 1.1 per cent of female deaths, the report notes. Globally, 320,000 young people between the ages of 15 and 29 die annually from alcohol-related causes, which represent 9 per cent of all deaths in that age group. WHO recalls that the global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol, endorsed by its member States in May 2010, promotes a range of proven effective measures for reducing alcohol-related harm. The measures include taxation on alcohol to reduce harmful drinking, decreasing availability by reducing outlets licensed to sell alcohol, raising age limits for those buying and using alcohol, and enforcing effective measures to prevent driving under the influence of alcohol.