Drinking alcohol causes one in 10 deaths in Europe

A TENTH of deaths in Europe and one in 25 worldwide can be attributed to drinking alcohol.

Alcohol also accounted for 5% of years lived with disability around the world, a report has found.

The findings, published in The Lancet medical journal, found that average global alcohol consumption was about 12 units per person every week.

A pint of mild beer contains two units as does one large glass of wine.

In Europe, people drink 21.5 units a week – almost twice the world average – while average consumption in the US is 18 units.

The lowest consumers were those in the eastern Mediterranean, who downed just 1.3 units.

In 2004, the latest year for which global figures were available, 3.8% of all deaths around the world – or one in 25 – were due to drinking alcohol, said the study.

The proportion of men suffering alcohol-related deaths was much higher than women – 6.3% compared with 1.8%.

Among Europeans, alcohol was directly responsible for as many as one in 10 deaths. The former Soviet Union countries suffered the greatest burden, with 15% of all deaths, or one in seven, caused by alcohol.

Most deaths involving alcohol were the result of injuries, cancer, heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver.

Alcohol-related disability was weighted towards the young, in contrast to the trend for traditional risk factors such as high blood pressure or cholesterol.

Of all years lived with disability attributed to alcohol, 34% were experienced by people aged 15 to 29, 31% by those aged 30 to 44, and 22% by older individuals in the 45 to 59 age bracket.

The authors, led by Dr Jurgen Rehm, from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada, wrote: “We face a large and increasing alcohol-attributable burden at a time when we know more than ever about which strategies can effectively and cost-effectively control alcohol-related harms.”