Over 3 million deaths per year due to alcohol and drug use, the majority of them among men
A new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights that 2.6 million deaths per year are attributable to alcohol consumption, representing 4.7% of all deaths, and 0.6 million deaths are attributable to the use of psychoactive drugs. In particular, 2 million of the alcohol-related deaths and 0.4 million of the drug-related deaths affected men.
The WHO Global status report on alcohol and health and the treatment of substance-related disorders provides a comprehensive update based on 2019 data on the public health impact of alcohol and drug use and the situation of alcohol use and substance use disorder treatment worldwide. The report shows that an estimated 400 million people worldwide are living with alcohol and drug use disorders. Of these, 209 million people are living with alcohol dependence.
“Substance use severely harms individual health, increases the risk of chronic diseases and mental illness, and tragically leads to millions of preventable deaths each year. It places a heavy burden on families and communities and increases the risk of accidents, injuries and violence,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “To build healthier, fairer societies, we must urgently commit to bold actions that reduce the negative health and social consequences of alcohol use and make treatment for substance use disorders accessible and affordable.”
The report highlights the urgent need to accelerate action globally to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.5 by 2030. This will be done by reducing alcohol and drug use and improving access to quality treatment for substance-related disorders.
Health consequences of alcohol consumption
The report highlights that, despite some decline since 2010, the total number of deaths caused by alcohol consumption remains unacceptably high, reaching 2.6 million in 2019, with the European and African Regions reporting the highest figures.
Alcohol-related death rates per litre of alcohol consumed are highest in low-income countries and lowest in high-income countries.
Of all alcohol-related deaths in 2019, an estimated 1.6 million were due to non-communicable diseases, including 474,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease and 401,000 from cancer.
About 724,000 deaths were due to injuries, such as road traffic accidents, self-harm and interpersonal violence. A further 284,000 deaths were related to communicable diseases. For example, alcohol consumption has been shown to increase the risk of HIV transmission by increasing the risk of unprotected sex and by suppressing a variety of immune responses, increasing the risk of tuberculosis infection and associated mortality.
The highest proportion (13%) of alcohol-related deaths in 2019 occurred in the 20- to 39-year-old age group.
Trends in alcohol consumption
Total per capita alcohol consumption by the world population decreased slightly from 5.7 liters in 2010 to 5.5 liters in 2019. The highest per capita consumption levels in 2019 were recorded in the WHO European Region (9.2 liters) and the Americas Region (7.5 liters).
Per capita alcohol consumption among drinkers is on average 27 grams of pure alcohol per day, which is equivalent to about two glasses of wine, two bottles of beer (33 cl) or two portions of spirits (4 cl). This amount and frequency of drinking is associated with an increased risk of numerous health problems and related mortality and disability.
In 2019, 38% of current drinkers had occasional heavy drinking, meaning they had consumed at least 60g of pure alcohol on at least one or more occasions in the previous month – the equivalent of about 4 to 5 glasses of wine, bottles of beer or spirits. Persistent heavy drinking was particularly common among men.
Worldwide, 23.5% of all 15- to 19-year-olds were current drinkers. The proportion of 15- to 19-year-olds was highest in Europe (45.9%), followed by America (43.9%).
Treatment gap for substance-related disorders
There are effective treatment options for substance use disorders, but treatment coverage remains incredibly low. The proportion of people in contact with substance use treatment services in 2019 in the countries providing this data ranged from less than 1% to 35% at most.
Most of the 145 countries that reported data did not have a dedicated budget line or data on government spending on substance use disorder treatment. Although mutual aid and support groups are useful resources for people with substance use disorders, almost half of the responding countries reported that they do not offer such support groups for substance use disorders.
Contributing to these critical gaps in treatment care are stigma, discrimination and misconceptions about treatment effectiveness, as well as the continued low prioritization of substance use disorders by health and development agencies.
Measures for progress
To accelerate progress towards SDG target 3.5 and reduce the health and social burden of substance use, governments and partners must step up action in eight strategic areas, including:
- raise awareness through a coordinated global advocacy campaign;
- Strengthening the prevention and treatment capacities of health and social care systems;
- expand the training of health professionals;
- reaffirm your commitment to implementing the Global Alcohol Action Plan 2022-2030 with a focus on the SAFER package;
- accelerate international capacity building and knowledge transfer efforts;
- involve civil society organisations, professional associations and people with lived experience;
- Improving multi-level monitoring systems and related research capacities; and
- Scaling up resource mobilisation and allocation and innovative financing mechanisms to strengthen the capacity of health and social systems.
Notes for editors
The previous WHO report on SDG target 3.5 was published in 2018. The report published today was planned for 2022, after the usual timeline of about 3 years, but was postponed due to challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic. SDG health target 3.5 calls for “strengthening the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including substance misuse and harmful use of alcohol” and includes two indicators: 3.5.1 – Coverage of treatment interventions (pharmacological, psychosocial, and rehabilitation and aftercare services) for substance-related disorders and indicator 3.5.2 – Alcohol consumption per capita (aged 15 years and over) in a calendar year in litres of pure alcohol. The WHO global survey on progress towards SDG target 3.5 was conducted in 2019–2020. Of 194 WHO Member States, 154 (79.4%) responded to the survey. The WHO Global Action Plan on Alcohol 2022–2030 is a comprehensive plan to further implement the 2010 WHO Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol with the aim of reducing alcohol-related harm worldwide.
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