Public health effects of alcohol use on a global and regional scale: A focus on alcohol policy

One well-known risk factor for early morbidity and death is alcohol consumption. The global population's per capita alcohol consumption increased from 5.5 L in 2005 to 6.4 L in 2010, and it remained at that level in 2016. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and alcohol-attributable fatalities decreased by 14.5% and 17.9%, respectively, between 2000 and 2016. Nevertheless, the overall health improvements during the same time span have not kept up with the advances in the alcohol-attributable burden. Alcohol was the cause of 3.0 million deaths and 132 million DALYs globally in 2016, accounting for 5.3% of all fatalities and 5.0% of all DALYs. Eastern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa bear the brunt of these obligations. Young adults bear the brunt of the alcohol-attributable burden, which accounts for 7.2% of all premature deaths. The main sources of the alcohol-attributable burden among the illness categories that alcohol is linked to include injuries, digestive disorders, and cardiovascular disorders. Together with the implementation of evidence-based alcohol control policies, the pursuit of public health priorities, and the long-term adoption of appropriate policies, the "whole of government" and "whole of society" approaches are necessary to reduce the harmful use of alcohol in a nation. In this review, we provide an overview of prior research on the burden of diseases linked to alcohol consumption and the most effective strategies to prevent hazardous alcohol use and advance health. Keywords: Alcohol drinking; Global burden of disease; Health policy