In 2019, alcohol was responsible for the deaths of 2.6 million people, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). 

The WHO’s Global status report on alcohol and health and treatment of substance use disorders highlights the significant impact of alcohol and substance abuse on global health and development.

The report found that 2.6 million deaths were attributable to alcohol consumption, making up 4.7 per cent of all deaths globally. An additional 0.6 million deaths were due to psychoactive drug use. 

Men accounted for the majority of these deaths, with 2 million alcohol-related deaths and 0.4 million drug-related deaths.

“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,” says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

“It places a heavy burden on families and communities, increasing exposure to accidents, injuries, and violence. To build a healthier, more equitable society, we must urgently commit to bold actions that reduce the negative health and social consequences of alcohol consumption and make treatment for substance use disorders accessible and affordable.”

The report emphasised the urgent need to accelerate efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.5 by 2030. This target aims to reduce alcohol and drug consumption and improve access to quality treatment for substance use disorders.

Despite a slight reduction in alcohol-related death rates since 2010, the number of deaths in 2019 remained high, with the European and African regions recording the highest numbers. 

The death rates per litre of alcohol consumed were highest in low-income countries and lowest in high-income countries. 

In 2019, 1.6 million deaths were from noncommunicable diseases linked to alcohol, including 474,000 from cardiovascular diseases and 401,000 from cancer. 

Injuries, such as traffic crashes, self-harm, and interpersonal violence, accounted for 724,000 deaths, while 284,000 deaths were linked to communicable diseases. 

Alcohol consumption has been shown to increase the risk of HIV transmission and tuberculosis infection.

Young people aged 20-39 years represented the highest proportion (13 per cent) of alcohol-attributable deaths in 2019.

Global alcohol consumption per capita decreased slightly from 5.7 litres in 2010 to 5.5 litres in 2019. 

The highest levels of per capita consumption were observed in the WHO European Region (9.2 litres) and the Region of Americas (7.5 litres).

In 2019, 38 per cent of current drinkers engaged in heavy episodic drinking, defined as consuming at least 60g of pure alcohol on one or more occasions in the preceding month. This pattern was particularly prevalent among men. Additionally, 23.5 per cent of all 15-19-year-olds were current drinkers, with the highest rates in the European region (45.9 per cent) and the Americas (43.9 per cent).

The report highlights a significant treatment gap for substance use disorders. 

Effective treatment options exist, but treatment coverage remains low, ranging from less than 1 per cent to no more than 35 per cent in 2019 in countries providing this data. 

Many countries lack specific budgets or governmental expenditures for treatment of substance use disorders. Stigma, discrimination, and misconceptions about the efficacy of treatment contribute to these gaps.

To address these issues, WHO outlined eight strategic areas for action: increasing awareness through global advocacy, strengthening prevention and treatment capacity, scaling up training of health professionals, implementing the Global Alcohol Action Plan 2022-2030, accelerating international efforts on capacity-building and knowledge transfer, engaging civil society, improving monitoring systems, and scaling up resource mobilisation and funding mechanisms.

The previous WHO report on SDG target 3.5 was published in 2018. The current report was delayed from its scheduled release in 2022 due to challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

SDG target 3.5 calls for the prevention and treatment of substance abuse and includes indicators for treatment intervention coverage and alcohol per capita consumption. The WHO Global Action Plan for Alcohol 2022-2030 aims to reduce alcohol-related harms worldwide.