The Institute of Public Health (IJZCG), on the occasion of April 1 - the World Day Against Alcoholism, said that there is a strong need to implement educational and preventive programs on the negative effects of alcohol, not only within the educational system, but also within local communities, as and at the national level.
The World Day Against Alcoholism is celebrated with the aim of raising public awareness of the harmful effects of alcohol.
"Alcohol is a toxic and psychoactive substance that has the property of causing addiction. There is a causal relationship between alcohol consumption and more than 200 types of diseases and injuries (mental health disorders, behavioral disorders, several types of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, liver diseases and other non-communicable diseases). More than 3 million deaths per year (5,3% of all deaths), globally, are the result of harmful alcohol use," notes the Institute.
They also indicate that the use of alcohol has significant individual, social and economic consequences, and therefore represents a major public health and social problem.
The World Health Organization, they remind, on the basis of research, expressed the view that there is no such thing as safe consumption of alcoholic beverages. The risk to the health of the drinker, the Institute says, starts with the first drop of any alcoholic drink.
"A significant part of the burden of disease attributable to alcohol arises from unintentional and intentional injuries caused by traffic accidents, violence and suicide. Fatal injuries caused by alcohol consumption are more common among younger age groups. About 13,5% of all deaths, in people aged 20 up to 39 years of age, can be attributed to alcohol," states the IJZCG.
According to the European School Survey on the Use of Psychoactive Substances (ESPAD - European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs) from 2019, 77 percent of sixteen-year-olds have consumed alcohol at least once in their lives, and every fourth sixteen-year-old has experienced drunkenness. In the year before the survey, 63 percent of young people of that age consumed alcohol.
"The data show us that there is a strong need to implement educational and preventive programs on the negative effects of alcohol, not only within the educational system, but also within local communities as well as at the national level," the announcement concludes.
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