Based on the analyses of 100 individual country profiles, The World Health Organization (WHO) has released The Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health focused on analyzing available evidence on alcohol consumption, consequences and policy interventions at global, regional and national levels.
The harmful use of alcohol is a global problem which compromises both individual and social development. It causes harm far beyond the physical and psychological health of the drinker, including the harm to the well-being and health of people around the drinker. Alcohol is associated with many serious social and developmental issues, including violence, child neglect and abuse, and absenteeism in the workplace.
The harmful use of alcohol (defined as excessive use to the point that it causes damage to health) has many implications on public health as demonstrated in the following key findings:
• Harmful use of alcohol results in the death of 2.5 million people annually, causes illness and injury to millions more, and increasingly affects younger generations and drinkers in developing countries.
• Nearly 4% of all deaths are related to alcohol. Most alcohol-related deaths are caused by alcohol result from injuries, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and liver cirrhosis.
• 6.2% of male deaths are related to alcohol, compared to 1.1% of female deaths.
• 320 000 young people aged 15-29 years die annually, from alcohol-related causes, resulting in 9% of all deaths in that age group.
• Almost 50% of men and two-thirds of women do not consume alcohol.
• Harmful alcohol use is one of four common risk factors, along with tobacco use, poor diet and physical inactivity, for the four main groups of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) – cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic lung diseases and diabetes.
• Alcohol is the world's third largest risk factor for disease burden; it is the leading risk factor in the Western Pacific and the Americas and the second largest in Europe.
The harmful use of alcohol is also associated with several infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This is because alcohol consumption weakens the immune system, reduces inhibitions, effects judgment and has a negative effect on patients' adherence to antiretroviral treatment.
Alcohol Impact Measured in Potential Years of Life Lost Due to Premature Death:
As part of the research, the following chart from the Global Health Risks report compares the top global health concerns using the disability-adjusted life year (DALY). DALY extends the concept of potential years of life lost due to premature death to include equivalent years of "healthy" life lost by virtue of being in states of poor health or disability.
As you can see below, of 19 health concerns, alcohol is ranked #3, and is greater than unsafe water, high blood pressure, tobacco, obesity and illicit drugs (ranked #18).
http://www.ncadd.org/index.php/in-the-news/155-25-million-alcohol-related-deaths-worldwide-annually
More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined.1,2
Smoking cigarettes, pipes, or cigars increases the risk of dying from cancers of the lung, esophagus, larynx, and oral cavity.3,4
Smokeless tobacco is a known cause of human cancer.5 In addition, the nicotine in smokeless tobacco may increase the risk for sudden death from a condition where the heart does not beat properly (ventricular arrhythmias) and, as a result, the heart pumps little or no blood to the body's organs.5
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.3
Cigarettes and Death
Cigarette smoking causes about 1 of every 5 deaths in the United States each year.1,6 Cigarette smoking is estimated to cause the following:1
443,000 deaths annually (including deaths from secondhand smoke)
49,400 deaths per year from secondhand smoke exposure
269,655 deaths annually among men
173,940 deaths annually among women
Cigarette use causes premature death:
On average, adults who smoke cigarettes die 14 years earlier than nonsmokers.7
Based on current cigarette smoking patterns, an estimated 25 million Americans who are alive today will die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses, including 5 million people younger than 18 years of age.8
Secondhand Smoke and Death
Exposure to secondhand smoke—sometimes called environmental tobacco smoke—causes nearly 50,000 deaths each year among adults in the United States:1
Secondhand smoke causes 3,400 annual deaths from lung cancer.1
Secondhand smoke causes 46,000 annual deaths from heart disease.1,9,10
Increased Risk for Death Among Men
Men who smoke increase their risk of dying from bronchitis by nearly 10 times, from emphysema by nearly 10 times, and from lung cancer by more than 22 times.3,11
Smoking triples middle-aged men's risk of dying from heart disease.11
Increased Risk for Death Among Women
Women who smoke increase their risk of dying from bronchitis by more than 10 times, from emphysema by more than 10 times, and from lung cancer by nearly 12 times.3,11
Between 1960 and 1990, deaths from lung cancer among women increased by more than 500%.12
Smoking triples middle-aged women's risk of dying from heart disease.11
Death from Specific Diseases
Tobacco use causes disease and death. Each year, smoking causes thousands of deaths from numerous diseases. The following table lists the estimated number of smokers who die each year from smoking-related diseases.1
Annual Cigarette Smoking-Related Mortality in the United States*
Disease Male Female Total
*In this table, deaths due to secondhand smoke and fire burn are not included.
Malignant Neoplasms (Cancer)
Lip, Oral Cavity, Pharynx 3,749 1,144 4,893
Esophagus 6,961 1,631 8,592
Stomach 1,900 584 2,484
Pancreas 3,147 3,536 6,683
Larynx 2,446 563 3,009
Trachea, Lung, Bronchus 78,680 46,842 125,522
Cervix Uteri 0 447 447
Kidney and Renal Pelvis 2,827 216 3,043
Urinary Bladder 3,907 1,076 4,983
Acute Myeloid Leukemia 855 337 1,192
Subtotal 104,472 56,376 160,848
Cardiovascular Diseases
Ischemic Heart Disease 50,884 29,121 80,005
Other Heart Disease 12,994 8,060 21,004
Cerebrovascular Disease 7,896 8,026 15,922
Atherosclerosis 1,282 611 1,893
Aortic Aneurysm 5,628 2,791 8,419
Other Arterial Disease 505 749 1,254
Subtotal 79,139 49,358 128,497
Respiratory Diseases
Pneumonia, Influenza 6,042 4,381 10,423
Bronchitis, Emphysema 7,536 6,391 13,927
Chronic Airway Obstruction 40,217 38,771 78,988
Subtotal 53,795 49,543 103,338
Grand Total 237,406 155,277 392,683
