Alcohol rivals tobacco for health impact: WHO
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* Brad Mackay

WHO warns that the global health impact of alcohol now rivals that of smoking.

![Figure1](http://www.cmaj.ca/https://www.cmaj.ca/content/cmaj/170/12/1778.2/F1.medium.gif)

[Figure1](http://www.cmaj.ca/content/170/12/1778.2/F1)

Figure. **graph to come**

A report this month documents a marked increase in the incidence of alcohol-related diseases and deaths worldwide and suggests ways to curb the impact.

*Alcohol's Role in the Global Burden of Disease* states that drinking even small amounts of alcohol greatly increases the chance of fatal injury and boosts the chances of developing diseases such as cancer, neuropsychological disorders and liver cirrhosis. 

Jurgen Rhem, a scientist at the University of Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and one of the study's coauthors, says the ills of alcohol have gone largely unnoticed in light of high-profile anti-smoking campaigns.

“In terms of perception there is one disease that is clearly associated with tobacco, namely lung disease,” he says. Alcohol use, on the other hand, “is related to 60 different diseases, but with most of those diseases alcohol is to blame for a smaller percentage, from 5%–50%.”

“I think that makes a difference in the public perception and that's why alcohol is much more difficult [to deal with].”

According to WHO data, alcohol consumption has increased in many of the former USSR republics as well as in developing countries, as is the case with Thailand (see Figure). 

WHO's warning seems to contradict recent highly publicized research that highlighted the cardiovascular benefits of moderate wine drinking. Rhem says they factored this into the research, subtracting any health benefits from the results. 

The WHO study makes several recommendations including advertising bans and increasing taxes. Recent research has shown the most effective tool in curbing alcohol consumption is a price increase. — *Brad Mackay*, Toronto