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4. ALCOHOL

Alcohol use is a leading risk factor for disease burden, both in terms rates are over 40% in and over 30% in and of mortality and morbidity, and has been linked to numerous . negative health and social outcomes, including more than 200 Reduction of health, safety and socio-economic problems disease and injury conditions such as cancer, stroke, liver cirrhosis, attributable to alcohol requires broad-based strategies among others. Foetal exposure to alcohol increases the risk of birth (e.g. addressing the wider social determinants of health) and ones defects and intellectual impairment. Alcohol misuse is also that target alcohol drinkers. Policies raising awareness of public associated with a range of mental health problems, including health problems caused by harmful use of alcohol and ensuring depression and anxiety disorders, obesity and unintentional injury support for effective alcohol policies, regulating the marketing of (WHO, 2018[26]). In 2016, 2.8 million deaths were attributed to alcoholic beverages and restricting the availability of alcohol, in alcohol use globally, corresponding to 2.2% of total age- particular to younger people, can be further developed in the standardised deaths among females and 6.8% among males. In region. Drink-driving policies have proven to be effective; for terms of overall disease burden, alcohol use led to 1.6% of total instance in a “zero tolerance” policy was enacted in 2012 with DALYs globally among females and 6% among males, ranking positive results. Demand can be reduced through taxation and alcohol use as the seventh leading risk factor for premature death pricing mechanisms, which in LAC countries has been less utilised and disability in 2016, compared with other risk factors in the Global as a policy tool. Finally, in relation to alcohol-use disorders, Burden of Disease studies (Griswold et al., 2018[27]). implementing screening and brief interventions programmes along Average alcohol consumption in the LAC region was more than with providing accessible and affordable treatment is an effective 6 litres per capita in 2016, lower than the 9.3 litres per capita in the strategy (WHO, 2018[26]; Sassi, 2015[28]). OECD. The lowest consumption is observed in , and , while the highest intake is in , Saint Lucia, and Barbados (Figure 4.23, left panel). Definition and comparability Consumption is in general higher among more developed countries, consistent with trends in other regions. The Alcohol intake is measured in terms of annual consumption evolution of alcohol consumption in the period 2010‑16 has been of litres of pure alcohol per person aged 15 years and over. very heterogeneous across countries, but the regional average has Sources are based mostly on FAO (Food and Agriculture increased by almost 3%. Countries like Guatemala and Organization of the United Nations) data, which consist of experienced decreases of over 25%, while and Trinidad annual estimates of beverage production and trade supplied and Tobago increased their per capita intake by the same by national Ministries of Agriculture and Trade. The percentage (Figure 4.23, right panel). methodology to convert alcoholic drinks to pure alcohol may differ across countries. Data are for recorded alcohol, and Heavy and binge drinking are drinking patterns with more exclude homemade sources, cross-border shopping and associated health risks. In average in the LAC region, 43% of the other unrecorded sources. Information on drinking patterns is drinking population in 2016 had a heavy episodic drinking in the derived from surveys and academic studies. past 30 days (Figure 4.24). In , Saint Lucia, , and , and Trinidad and Tobago, around half of all drinkers report heavy drinking behaviour. Rates of heavy drinking are below 35% in countries such as Chile, Guatemala, El Salvador, Argentina and Uruguay, suggesting a different drinking culture in References some of the countries with higher population intakes. Regarding [27] Griswold, M. et al. (2018), “Alcohol use and burden for gender patterns, in average men have more than 2.5 times heavy 195 countries and territories, 1990‑2016: a systematic analysis for episodic drinking than women, with Peru, Saint Lucia, Grenada, the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016”, The Lancet, , and Trinidad and Tobago leading for both Vol. 392/10152, pp. 1015‑1035, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ genders. s0140-6736(18)31310-2. Regarding road accidents in the LAC region, between one out of [28] Sassi, F. (ed.) (2015), Tackling Harmful Alcohol Use: Economics three for men and more than one out of every five for woman can be and Public Health Policy, OECD Publishing, Paris, https:// attributed to alcohol consumption (Figure 4.25). The rates are dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264181069-en. over 40% for male drivers in Argentina, Uruguay, Barbados, [26] WHO (2018), Alcohol, World Health Organization, https:// Grenada, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, while among women www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/alcohol.

104 HEALTH AT A GLANCE: AND THE 2020 © OECD/The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank 2020 4. ALCOHOL

Figure 4.23. Recorded alcohol consumption, population aged 15 years and older, 2016

2016 Difference in consumption 2010-16 Uruguay Saint Lucia Argentina Barbados Saint Kitts and Nevis OECD36 Grenada Trinidad and Tobago Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Dominica Chile and Barbuda LAC33 Peru Venezuela Bahamas El Salvador Costa Rica Guatemala

12 10 8 6 4 2 0 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 Litres per capita %

Source: WHO GHO 2018. OECD Health Statistics 2019 for Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Brazil. StatLink 2 https://stat.link/kr2nxp Figure 4.24. Heavy episodic drinking (drinkers only), past Figure 4.25. Proportion of road traffic deaths that are 30 days (%), 2016 attributable to alcohol, 2016

Female Male Female Male Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Grenada Grenada Saint Lucia Barbados Peru Uruguay Argentina Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Barbados Peru Brazil Dominican Republic Dominica Antigua and Barbuda Belize Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Paraguay Panama Bolivia Brazil Ecuador Chile Dominican Republic Paraguay Guyana Panama Bolivia Suriname Belize Bahamas Ecuador Haiti LAC30 LAC33 Suriname Cuba Cuba Mexico Bahamas Jamaica Mexico Colombia Venezuela Venezuela Nicaragua Haiti Costa Rica Colombia Honduras Costa Rica Uruguay Nicaragua Argentina Jamaica El Salvador Honduras Guatemala El Salvador Chile Guatemala 0 20 40 60 80 % 0 10 20 30 40% 50

Source: WHO GHO 2018. Source: WHO GHO 2018. StatLink 2 https://stat.link/794qad StatLink 2 https://stat.link/q9hjx8

HEALTH AT A GLANCE: LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 2020 © OECD/The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank 2020 105 From: Health at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2020

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OECD/The World Bank (2020), “Alcohol”, in Health at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2020, OECD Publishing, Paris.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/bfd0a107-en

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