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Alcohol Causes One In 20 Deaths Worldwide, Says WHO (theguardian.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the troubling-news dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Alcohol is responsible for more than 5% of all deaths worldwide, or around 3 million a year, new figures have revealed. The data, part of a report from the World Health Organization, shows that about 2.3 million of those deaths in 2016 were of men, and that almost 29% of all alcohol-caused deaths were down to injuries -- including traffic accidents and suicide. The report, which comes out every four years, reveals the continued impact of alcohol on public health around the world, and highlights that the young bear the brunt: 13.5% of deaths among people in their 20s are linked to booze, with alcohol responsible for 7.2% of premature deaths overall. It also stresses that harm from drinking is greater among poorer consumers than wealthier ones. While the proportion of deaths worldwide that have been linked to alcohol has fallen to 5.3% since 2012, when the figure was at 5.9%, experts say the findings make for sobering reading.

6 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. Good News by Crashmarik · · Score: 5, Funny

    95% chance you won't die from alcohol.

    The glass may be half empty but the bottle is half full.

  2. Only one statistic by shortscruffydave · · Score: 5, Funny

    Alcohol may cause 1 in 20 deaths, but it probably play a part in about 1 in 20 conceptions, so overall its a zero-sum game

    1. Re:Only one statistic by ISayWeOnlyToBePolite · · Score: 5, Funny

      Alcohol may cause 1 in 20 deaths, but it probably play a part in about 1 in 20 conceptions, so overall its a zero-sum game

      Here's to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.

    2. Re:Only one statistic by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Funny

      Alcohol is no solution.

      It's a distillate.

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      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  3. Re:Slashdot, are you turning into a Puritan? by sandbagger · · Score: 5, Informative

    To be fair, it is the number one way to screw up your life. And if not the number one, it's in the top two. This drug is widely available, people self-medicate with it because it has social blessing, it's advertised everywhere and yes, there's even a word for abusing it that's in common parlance -- alcoholism. It's not just the deaths it's the messed second, third and fourth order consequences.

    Let me give a simple example: alcohol abuse makes you a lousy parent.

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    ---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
  4. Re:Alcohol has always been used in population cont by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It kills those in their 20s disproportionately often because those in their 20s tend to die rarely from cardiac arrest, cancer or a stroke.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.