WHO Reports That Alcohol Kills 2.6 Million People Yearly

The World Health Organization announced on Tuesday that alcohol consumption is responsible for nearly three million deaths every year, a staggering figure that remains “unacceptably high” despite a slight decline in recent years.

According to the UN health agency’s latest report, alcohol is the root cause of almost one in 20 global deaths, stemming from reckless driving, violent behavior, abuse, and a range of diseases and disorders.

The report revealed that in 2019, a total of 2.6 million deaths – equivalent to 4.7% of all global deaths that year – were attributed to alcohol consumption, with men accounting for nearly three-quarters of these fatalities.

“Substance use severely harms individual health, increasing the risk of chronic diseases, mental health conditions, and tragically resulting in millions of preventable deaths every year,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pinpointed.

He highlighted that there had been “some reduction in alcohol consumption and related harm worldwide since 2010”.

“(But) the health and social burden due to alcohol use remains unacceptably high,” he continued, highlighting that younger people were disproportionately affected.

In 2019, the World Health Organization reported that alcohol consumption was responsible for the highest proportion of deaths among individuals aged 20-39, at 13%. Excessive drinking is linked to various health conditions, including liver cirrhosis and certain cancers.

The report revealed that out of the total fatalities attributed to alcohol, 1.6 million were due to non-communicable diseases, with 474,000 resulting from cardiovascular diseases, 401,000 from cancer, and 724,000 from injuries, including traffic accidents and self-harm.

Additionally, alcohol abuse increases the susceptibility to infectious diseases like tuberculosis, HIV, and pneumonia. In 2019, an estimated 209 million people, or 3.7% of the global population, suffered from alcohol dependence.

While global per capita alcohol consumption slightly decreased from 5.7 liters in 2010 to 5.5 liters in 2019, alcohol consumption remains unevenly distributed worldwide. Over half of the global population above 15 years of age abstains from alcohol, with Europe having the highest per capita consumption at 9.2 liters, followed by the Americas at 7.5 liters.

In contrast, predominantly Muslim countries in Northern Africa, the Middle East, and Asia reported the lowest consumption levels. On average, individuals who consumed alcohol in 2019 ingested 27 grams of pure alcohol daily, equivalent to two glasses of wine, two small beer bottles, or two spirit shots.

“This level and frequency of drinking is associated with increased risks of numerous health conditions and associated mortality and disability,” the WHO warned.

In 2019, nearly 40% of current drinkers admitted to binge drinking, defined as consuming 60g or more of pure alcohol in one session, at least once in the past month.

Globally, almost one-quarter of 15- to 19-year-olds were current drinkers, with this number increasing to 45% in Europe and 44% in the Americas.

The WHO emphasized the need to improve access to quality treatment for substance use disorders, noting that in 2019, the proportion of people seeking treatment ranged from less than 1% to 35% across countries that reported this data.

“Stigma, discrimination and misconceptions about the efficacy of treatment contribute to these critical gaps in treatment provision,” Vladimir Poznyak, head of WHO’s unit for alcohol, drugs and addictive behaviours, told reporters.