Alcohol killing 800,000 Europeans annually – WHO

Excessive drinking is contributing to increased injury, violence, and premature deaths across the region, according to a new report

Alcohol use is causing around 800,000 deaths each year in Europe, accounting for one in every eleven deaths, according to a report by the World Health Organization.

In a new factsheet published this week, the agency said the continent has “the highest alcohol consumption levels globally,” with drinking contributing substantially to premature mortality and injury.

Based on 2019 data, the latest year available, nearly 145,000 injury deaths in the region were attributable to alcohol, the report said. The largest categories were self-harm, road injuries and falls.

According to the organization, drinking has also been closely linked to interpersonal violence, including assaults and domestic abuse, identifying it as a major contributing factor to violent injury deaths across the region.

Read more

Young people face particular risks, with alcohol affecting brain development and decision-making during adolescence and early adulthood. WHO said drinking can impair memory and learning ability as well as increase the risk of long-term harm, including alcohol use disorders and other mental health problems.

Among adolescents and young adults, alcohol remains a leading risk factor for injury-related disability and premature death.

“Alcohol is a toxic substance that not only causes seven types of cancer and other noncommunicable diseases, but also impairs judgment and self-control, slows reaction times, reduces coordination and promotes risk-taking behavior,” said Carina Ferreira-Borges, Regional Adviser for Alcohol, Illicit Drugs and Prison Health at WHO/Europe. “This is why it is implicated in so many preventable injuries and injury deaths.”

Eastern European countries account for about half of all alcohol-attributable injury deaths, compared with less than 20% in western and southern parts of the region, the data show.

In Russia, drinking habits have shifted over the past two decades, with the share of people who do not consume alcohol nearly doubling, according to recent surveys. The data also show that beer, rather than vodka, remains the most commonly consumed alcoholic drink.