 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Jürgen Rehm, PhD, Addiction Research Institute, ISF, Konradstr. 32, Zurich, CH8031, Switzerland, ++41 1 448 11 80, jtrehm@aol.com
This presentation describes the alcohol-related global burden of disease by geographic region, sex and age, in comparison to other substance abuse related burdens. The method consists of a risk factor approach, separating effect of average volume of alcohol consumption from patterns of drinking. The findings show that both dimensions of alcohol exposure vary markedly across world regions, by sex and by age. Overall, there are causals relation between alcohol and more than 60 chronic and acute disease categories as classified by ICD. All disease categories are related to average volume of consumption, with patterns of drinking being related to all acute outcomes, to CHD and to other ischemic categories. Alcohol-related burden is considerable: 3.2% of global mortality and 4.0% of global burden of disease as measured in DALYs. These are net figures after subtracting the beneficial effects. In comparison, tobacco is related to 4.1% of global burden and illicit drugs to 0.8%. it is concluded that alcohol is a major risk factor for burden of disease in most parts of the world comparable to tobacco. A large part of the burden is avoidable.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Alcohol, Disease Data
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.