Canada: Alcohol Deaths on the Rise
According to new research, 10 Canadians are dying in hospitals every day due to harm from substance use, with 75% of these deaths directly related to alcohol use.
The data comes from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). They have also found that:
- Alcohol contributes to more than half of all hospitalizations linked to substance use.
- Hospitalization due to alcohol is 13 times more common than opioid-related hospitalizations.
- Economic costs related to alcohol use are 10 times higher than those related to opioid use.
- Alcohol use costs include criminal justice issues, decreases in productivity, and health issues.
- From 2017 to 2018, there were 249 alcohol-related hospitalizations in Canada every day per 100,000 people, compared to 241 hospitalizations from 2015 to 2016.
According to Dr. Keith Ahamad, an addictions specialist at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, approximately 30 to 40% of individuals who fatally overdose in British Colombia also test positive for alcohol use. This percentage has been steadily increasing.
Better alcohol control policy is needed
Public health experts and advocates have been stressing the need for a better alcohol policy in Canada. It has been found that every province and territory is spending more money on alcohol-related health care than they are making from alcohol sales.
The case is not improved when some provinces weaken alcohol control such as Ontario. The province recently significantly weakened their alcohol sales restrictions which will inevitably increase the alcohol burden in Ontario.
Ethanol, which is pure alcohol, is classified by the World Health Organization as a group one carcinogen. We would recommend policies that tend to drive down the amount of alcohol used by the population, basically the opposite of what Ontario is doing…,” said Adam Sherk, researcher at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, as per DATAC.
Research clearly shows the association between alcohol pricing and accessibility and the harms associated with its elevated consumption, in addition to other negative consequences for the individual consuming alcohol. This is why pricing and availability restrictions are part of the alcohol policy best buys recommended by the WHO.
