The Institute for Public Health reminded that according to the estimates of the World Health Organization from 2019, Montenegro was in 12th place in terms of the amount of alcohol consumed per capita with 12,24 liters (men: 19.51, women: 5.3), which is the highest measured consumption so far.
The Institute announced this on the occasion of April 1, the World Day Against Alcoholism.
"According to the data of the Research on the quality of life, lifestyles and health risks of the inhabitants of Montenegro, which we conducted in 2017, the amount of pure ethyl alcohol consumed per capita by people over the age of 15 in one year was an average of 10,3 liters," he says. in the announcement of the Institute for Public Health.
They add that in Montenegro, according to that research, more than 60 percent of the population aged 15 to 64 consumed alcoholic beverages at least once in the last 12 months, regardless of gender.
"Among young adults (15 to 34 years old), 65,2 percent stated that they drank alcohol sometime in their life, while every other person (54,2 percent) used alcohol in the previous year," the Institute emphasized.
They add that the European survey on the use of psychoactive substances and non-chemical means of addiction among young people in Montenegro (ESPAD) conducted by the Institute for Public Health in 2019 among sixteen-year-olds showed that the majority (70 percent) believe that alcohol is easily available in Montenegro, with an equal share of boys and girls.
As the Institute says, "they consider beer to be the most accessible, followed by wine. They do not understand the danger of using alcohol at all, so when it comes to the perception of the risk associated with the consumption of alcoholic beverages, every fifth boy and more than every tenth girl believe that they do not they harm neither themselves nor others if they drink one or two drinks every day".
They add that 38 percent of students reported alcohol use at the age of 13 or younger, and almost eight out of ten students in Montenegro consumed alcohol at least once by the age of 16 (81 percent of boys and 74 percent of girls).
"One in twenty students experienced binge drinking at an early age, age 13 or younger, while one in four students got drunk at least once by age 16. Of particular concern is that the risk of weekend binge drinking (consuming five drinks in a row on one occasion almost every weekend) is considered non-existent or "mild" by one in five students," the statement said.
They point out that the most common reasons for alcohol consumption among young people in Montenegro are positive social expectations.
"Almost every fourth student (23 percent) believes that celebrations and parties are better with alcohol, which helps them have a better time and makes hanging out with friends more fun," the Institute emphasized.
As they say, these data show that there is a significant need for the implementation of educational and preventive programs about alcohol as the most commonly used legal drug among young people, not only within the educational system from the earliest grades, but also within local communities and beyond.
They add that these should be aimed at "changing the normative beliefs of young people about the ubiquitous consumption of alcohol by their peers, empowering young people not to perceive alcohol as a kind of social imperative and an indispensable factor in good fun, and breaking deep-rooted sociological prejudices, distorted beliefs and myths about alcohol and its consumption".
They also claim that on a global level, the harmful use of alcohol is one of the priority public health challenges.
"Alcohol consumption per capita has increased in almost all countries of the world, and as a result, the number of people suffering from diseases that arise as a result of alcohol abuse has also increased," said the Institute.
As they say, according to the latest WHO global estimates, 283 million people over the age of 15 live with disorders caused by the harmful use of alcohol, which is 5,1 percent of the total adult population.
"Alcohol addiction, as the most severe form of disorder, affects 2,6 percent of adults or 144 million people," the Institute pointed out.
They add that according to estimates in the world 237 million men and 46 million women suffer from alcoholism.
They add that "the highest number was recorded in Europe and America, and disorders caused by alcohol consumption are more common in developed countries. Alcohol causes 3 million deaths per year (5,3 percent of the total) and the loss of 132,6 million (5,1 percent of total number) of years lost due to disability (Disability Adjusted Life Years - DALY)".
They also point out that in Europe, it is estimated that around 1 million people die annually as a result of alcohol use, which accounts for 10 percent of all causes of death (most of them occur at a young age).
"Alcohol consumption causes death and disability relatively early in life. In the age group of 20 to 39 years, 13,5 percent of all deaths can be linked to alcohol use," the statement said.
The Institute emphasizes that in addition to health consequences, the harmful use of alcohol causes significant social and economic losses, both for the individual and for society as a whole.
As they say, "the World Health Organization, based on research, expressed the opinion that there is no such thing as safe consumption of alcoholic beverages. The risk to the health of a person who drinks begins with the first drop of any alcoholic beverage."
They point out that the total consumption of alcohol per capita in the world's population over 15 increased from 5,5 liters of pure alcohol in 2005 to 6,6 liters in 2019.
"The highest level of alcohol consumption per capita was recorded in the countries of the WHO European Region. Despite such data, despite the evidence of health risks, forecasts indicate that global alcohol consumption will increase even more in the next ten years," they said. from the Institute.
They emphasize that by 2025, the total alcohol consumption per capita among people over the age of 15 is expected to increase to 7,0 liters in 2025, unless the increased trends of alcohol consumption in certain regions are stopped and reversed.
As they say, "most of the evidence on the effectiveness of policies in the area of reducing harmful alcohol use comes from highly developed countries, accordingly, policies and interventions in this area need to be adequately adapted to the local context".
They add that in the draft of the new Global Strategy for Reducing the Harmful Use of Alcohol and Alcohol-Related Disorders, the WHO included a new goal, which is to reduce the harmful use of alcohol by 20 percent by 2030.
"It set six priority areas for action that would bring the best results: pricing policy that includes taxes, limiting the availability of alcohol, banning the advertising of alcoholic beverages, availability of health information about the harmful effects of alcohol on health, response of the health system and activities within the community."
They emphasize that it is necessary to work multisectorally, because alcoholism is a complex problem, and to give a role and importance to numerous actors in the solution of the above-mentioned problems, starting from the police administration, restaurateurs and food retailers, to health workers.
"Each entity from its domain can certainly contribute to the prevention of harmful use of alcohol," concluded the Institute.
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