The Sobering Truth: Incentivizing Alcohol Death and Disability

Here's an NCD Policy Report from Vital Strategies that may be worth a bit of your time.

Why?

Just check out this from pages 9 and 10 of the report, in a section titled, “The Imperative For Action.”

Harmful alcohol consumption is a major public health concern worldwide. Globally, alcohol use is the largest risk factor for years of life lost for people between 15 and 49 years old. Each year, more than 3 million people die as a result of the harmful use of alcohol. Alcohol use is linked to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including cancers, cardiovascular diseases and liver diseases, and it can also harm mental health and exacerbate infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, pneumonia and COVID-19.

Alcohol consumption affects a range of health, social and economic factors, including lost productivity, road injury and death, crime, and violence in the form of homicides, suicides and abuse of women and children.

Too many governments have not responded to the alcohol epidemic and have been slow to adopt evidence-based strategies, such as tax increases that reduce harmful alcohol consumption. In fact, many governments give significant incentives to the alcohol industry, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, these incentives are often portrayed by governments as beneficial for economic development, and by extension, for society.

Source: Vital Strategies. The Sobering Truth: Incentivizing Alcohol Death and Disability, An NCD Policy Report. New York, NY; 2021. Available from: www.vitalstrategies.org/TheSoberingTruth

Here at Drive Safe Missoula, we are working to reduce the number of DUI related fatalities and injuries on our roadways.

As always, Thank you and Drive Safe Missoula