New Delhi: Those who believe that consumption of alcohol is good for their health; they may have to check their facts again as one in every 20 deaths is a result of the harmful use of alcohol. According to the latest report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 3 million people died due to harmful use of alcohol in 2016.
The WHO's "Global status report on alcohol and health 2018" says that overall, the harmful use of alcohol causes more than 5 per cent of the global disease burden.
The WHO report presents a comprehensive picture of alcohol consumption and the disease burden attributable to alcohol worldwide. It also describes what countries are doing to reduce this burden.
"Far too many people, their families and communities suffer the consequences of the harmful use of alcohol through violence, injuries, mental health problems and diseases like cancer and stroke," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO.
Of all deaths attributable to alcohol, 28 per cent were due to injuries, such as those from traffic crashes, self-harm and interpersonal violence; 21 per cent due to digestive disorders; 19 per cent due to cardiovascular diseases, and the remainder due to infectious diseases, cancers, mental disorders and other health conditions.
During an interaction with Millennium Post, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Balram Bhargava had said that alcohol has become a major cause of liver cirrhosis in India.
"It has been found that when 10 lay people on the street or science students or even some doctors were asked whether alcohol causes cancer, they were found saying that it doesn't. Rather, it is tobacco that causes cancer. The reality is totally different as alcohol causes up to 10 types of cancers such as liver, prostate, oral, etc," the ICMR DG had said.
"People, thus, have to be educated about alcohol and, once they reduce consumption of alcohol, the cases of cirrhosis would also drop," Bhargava had said, adding that some people may not die due to heart ailments, but more people will die from liver cancer, depression, stroke, road accidents.