Knowing your personal risk based on your habits can help you make the best decision for you. Stigma, discrimination and misconceptions about the efficacy of treatment contribute to these critical gaps in treatment provision, as well as the continued low prioritization of substance use disorders by health and development agencies. The highest proportion (13%) of alcohol-attributable deaths in 2019 were among young people aged 20–39 years. For example, it may be used to define the risk of illness or injury based on the number of drinks a person has in a week.

Over 3 million annual deaths due to alcohol and drug use, majority among men

Most of the 145 countries that reported data did not have a specific budget line or data on governmental expenditures for treatment of substance use disorders. Although mutual help and peer support groups are useful resources for people with substance use disorders, almost half of responding countries reported that they do not offer such support groups for substance use disorders. Genetic, psychological, social and environmental factors can impact how drinking alcohol affects your body and behavior. Theories suggest that for certain people drinking has a different and stronger impact that can lead to alcohol use disorder. Disadvantaged and vulnerable populations have higher rates of alcohol-related death and hospitalization, as harms from a given amount and pattern of drinking are higher for poorer drinkers and their families than for richer drinkers in any given society.

No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health

Despite progress in reducing alcohol consumption and related harms, the Region continues to face significant challenges, including high rates of alcohol-related deaths, particularly from cancer. The report highlights the urgent need to accelerate actions globally towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)  target 3.5 by 2030 by reducing alcohol and drug consumption and improving access to quality treatment for substance use disorders. WHO has identified that the most cost-effective actions to reduce the harmful use of alcohol include increasing taxes on alcoholic beverages, enforcing restrictions on exposure to alcohol advertising, and restrictions on the physical availability of retailed alcohol. In addition, enforcing drink driving countermeasures and securing access to screening, brief interventions, and treatment are effective and ethically sound interventions. The most cost-effective interventions are at the focus of WHO-led SAFER initiative aimed at providing support for Member States in reducing the harmful use of alcohol. This initiative includes policies that reduce the affordability, availability, and acceptability of alcohol, particularly in the heaviest-drinking countries, mitigating the effects of alcohol consumption on public health.

It is the alcohol that causes harm, not the beverage

But heavy drinking carries a much higher risk even for those without other health concerns. Be sure to ask your healthcare professional about what’s right for your health and safety. That usually means four or more drinks within two hours for women and five or more drinks within two hours for men. In the past, moderate drinking was thought to be linked with a lower risk of dying from heart disease and possibly diabetes.

Risks of moderate alcohol use

WHO’s Global status report on alcohol and health and treatment of substance use disorders provides a comprehensive update based on 2019 data on the public health impact of alcohol and drug use and situation with alcohol consumption and treatment of substance use disorders worldwide. The report shows an estimated 400 million people lived with alcohol use disorders globally. WHO works with Member States and partners to prevent and reduce the harmful use of alcohol as a public health priority. The 2010 WHO Global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol and the 2022 WHO Global action plan are the most comprehensive international alcohol policy documents, endorsed by WHO Member States, that provides guidance on reducing the harmful use of alcohol at all levels.

“So, when we talk about possible so-called safer levels of alcohol consumption or about its protective effects, we are ignoring the bigger picture of alcohol harm in our Region and the world. Although it is well established that alcohol can cause cancer, this fact is still not widely known to the public in most countries. The Global Information System on Alcohol and Health (GISAH) is an essential tool for assessing and monitoring the health situation and trends related to alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harm, and policy responses in countries. The harmful use of alcohol results in the death of 2.6 million people annually. There are 230 different types of diseases where alcohol has a significant role. It also causes harm to the well-being and health of people around the drinker.

• When it comes to alcohol, if you don’t drink, don’t start for health reasons.
• During pregnancy, drinking may cause the unborn baby to have brain damage and other problems.
• In the EU, cancer is the leading cause of death – with a steadily increasing incidence rate – and the majority of all alcohol-attributable deaths are due to different types of cancers.
• It means on days when a person does drink, women do not have more than one drink and men do not have more than two drinks.

A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights that 2.6 million deaths per year were attributable to alcohol consumption, accounting for 4.7% of all deaths, and 0.6 million deaths to psychoactive drug use. Notably, 2 million of alcohol and 0.4 million of drug-attributable deaths were among men. In 2022, the WHO Regional Office for Europe, with support from the European Commission, initiated the Evidence into Action Alcohol Project (EVID-ACTION), which is contributing to delivering on the objectives of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. Among other things, the project is working to increase awareness among the public and policy-makers in the EU about the links between alcohol consumption and cancer risks, and to support evidence-based alcohol policy measures to reduce these risks. Unhealthy alcohol use includes any alcohol use that puts your health or safety at risk or causes other alcohol-related problems.

Alcohol consumption contributes to 2.6 million deaths each year globally as well as to the disabilities and poor health of millions of people. Overall, harmful use of alcohol is responsible for 4.7% of the global burden of disease. The death rates due to alcohol consumption per litre of alcohol consumed are highest in low-income countries and lowest in high-income countries.

During pregnancy, drinking may cause the unborn baby to have brain damage and other problems. Despite this, the question of beneficial effects of alcohol has been a contentious issue in research for years. In the United States, people younger than age 21 are not legally able to drink alcohol. Heavy drinking also has been linked to intentional injuries, such as suicide, as well as accidental injury and death.

Both the volume of lifetime alcohol use and a combination of context, frequency of alcohol consumption and amount consumed per occasion increase the risk of the wide range of health and social harms. The risks increase largely in a dose-dependent manner with the volume of alcohol consumed and with frequency of drinking, and exponentially with the amount consumed on a single occasion. Surrogate and illegally produced alcohols can bring an extra health risk from toxic contaminants. The EU is the heaviest-drinking area globally, with 7 of the 10 countries with the highest per-capita alcohol consumption located within the EU.

Alcohol use disorder includes a level of drinking that’s sometimes called alcoholism. Alcohol is a toxic, psychoactive, and dependence-producing substance and has been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer decades ago – this is the highest risk group, which also includes asbestos, radiation and tobacco. Alcohol causes at least seven types of cancer, including the most common cancer types, such as bowel cancer and female breast alcohol drug overview cancer. Ethanol (alcohol) causes cancer through biological mechanisms as the compound breaks down in the body, which means that any beverage containing alcohol, regardless of its price and quality, poses a risk of developing cancer. The bottom line is that alcohol is potentially addictive, can cause intoxication, and contributes to health problems and preventable deaths.

• That usually means four or more drinks within two hours for women and five or more drinks within two hours for men.
• Alcohol as an intoxicant affects a wide range of structures and processes in the central nervous system and increases the risk for intentional and unintentional injuries and adverse social consequences.
• Unhealthy alcohol use includes any alcohol use that puts your health or safety at risk or causes other alcohol-related problems.
• However, even a mild disorder can escalate and lead to serious problems, so early treatment is important.

The highest levels of per capita consumption in 2019 were observed in the WHO European Region (9.2 litres) and the Region of Americas (7.5 litres). The SAFER initiative, launched globally in 2018, supports the implementation of high-impact strategies across the European Region. When it comes to alcohol, if you don’t drink, don’t start for health reasons.

After more analysis of the research, that doesn’t seem to be the case. In general, a healthy diet and physical activity have much greater health benefits than alcohol and have been more extensively studied. For example, any amount of drinking increases the risk of breast cancer and colorectal cancer. Many people drink alcohol as a personal preference, during social activities, or as a part of cultural and religious practices.