3m annual deaths due alcohol, drug use: WHO

AS many as 2.6 million deaths per year globally are attributable to alcohol consumption, accounting for 4.7 per cent of all deaths in 2019, according to the latest report by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

- KAVITA BAJELI-DATT

The WHO's global status report on alcohol and health and treatment of substance use disorders stated that the alcoholattributable disease burden is heaviest among males-2 million alcohol-attributable deaths and 6.9% of all disability-adjusted life years (DALY). Among females, these figures were 0.6 million deaths and 2.0% of all DALY as of 2019.

The report said that globally, an estimated 400 million people, or 7% of the world's population aged 15 years and older, live with alcohol use disorders, and an estimated 209 million (3.7% of the adult world population) live with alcohol dependence.