2.5 Million Die To Alcohol Each Year, Consumption Rates Growing

The World Health Organization urges additional alcohol health policies

In a worldwide warning on Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) explained that alcohol abuse is growing at alarming rates and consumption has increased drastically in both Asia and Africa.

Each year, nearly 2.5 million lives are lost to alcohol abuse, and countries are not taking enough health precautions to limit this number the WHO explained.

When alcohol abuse began increasing, around 1999, the organization implemented policies to decrease alcohol-related deaths.

No specific prevention method has shown to be the best, but the organization has implemented restricted marketing policies and drunk driving limits.

While 34 countries have related policies based on suggestions from the WHO, some countries severely lack any alcohol abuse prevention programs.

Worried about growing alcohol consumption in Africa and Asia, the World Health Organization explains that neither country has an abundance of health resources available. Alcohol consumption is greater than 25 percent in Africa, and in certain regions in Asia consumption is close to 70 percent.

A new strategy for prevention of dangerous alcohol consumption includes a ban on discounted alcoholic beverages and a ban on targeting advertising to younger individuals.