Alcohol-induced deaths are at the highest level in a decade in Australia. Hospital Intensive Care Units (ICUs) are experiencing a massive influx of patients with diseases caused by alcohol.
In the face of this steep increase of alcohol deaths and diseases, Australian ‘alcogenic society’ has been identified as cause – a pervasive alcohol norm pushing alcohol into all aspects of life in Australia and driving alcohol use and harm.
On October 19, 2022, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released data on alcohol-induced deaths in 2021. The new data revealed that alcohol-induced deaths increased for the second year in a row and are at the highest level in the last 10 years.
- In 2021, there were 1,559 people who died of an alcohol-induced death, comprising 1,156 men and 403 women.
- There was a 5.8% increase in the rate of alcohol-induced deaths, with 107 additional deaths since 2020.
- For males, the rate is the highest in the ten-year time series at 8.3 deaths per 100,000 people (8.1% increase since 2020).
- The rate for females remained the same as in 2020.
In 2021, alcohol-induced deaths increased 5.8% compared to 2020 and was the highest rate recorded in the past 10 years. This was driven by an 8.1% increase in deaths among males,” said Lauren Moran, Director of Mortality Statistics at the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Lauren Moran, Director of Mortality Statistics, Australian Bureau of Statistics
The alcohol-induced death rate includes deaths caused by both acute illnesses, such as alcohol poisoning and chronic illnesses, such as liver diseases. The rate only includes deaths directly caused by alcohol and does not include deaths where alcohol was a contributing factor. Therefore, alcohol-induced deaths are only a small part of the picture. Alcohol-attributable deaths which include all deaths related to alcohol caused about 6000 deaths in Australia each year.
The rise in alcohol-induced deaths in Australia is largely due to illnesses arising from long-term or chronic alcohol use, including liver cirrhosis.
One doctor from a major regional tertiary hospital in Queensland said he was alarmed by the severe, end-stage alcohol-related disease he has seen “in just a couple of years” at the hospital. He added that up to 25% of ICU resources are being used to treat critical illnesses directly related to alcohol.
For the past 12 months, the occupancy of ICU resources attributable to direct alcohol-related critical illness is, at times, using up 25% of available resources,” said the doctor from a regional tertiary hospital in Queensland, Australia, as per The Guardian.
A doctor from a regional tertiary hospital in Queensland, Australia.
What is even more shocking is that this is about ten times the average critical care burden attributable to COVID-19.
That means a quarter of a tertiary teaching hospital ICU bed spaces, ventilators, and life supports are being used by patients with alcohol-related illnesses including alcohol-related trauma and violence, self-poisoning including alcohol ingestion, chronic liver disease, pancreatitis, bleeding, and seizures,” said the doctor from a regional tertiary hospital in Queensland, Australia, as per The Guardian.
This is about 10 times the critical care burden attributable to Covid, on average, over the last three years at the hospital.”
A doctor from a regional tertiary hospital in Queensland, Australia.
The doctor was concerned about several issues that are worsening the alcohol problem in Australia.
- The rise in alcohol consumption among certain groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- On-demand alcohol delivery has further increased the availability of alcohol products.
- Loyalty programs that target people with advertising and rewards for buying alcohol products.
Researchers are exploring two main theories as to how COVID-19 could have affected the rise in alcohol use and deaths as Caterina Giorgi, the CEO of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) shares with ABC news:
- The rise in alcohol use during the pandemic among those who were already heavily using alcohol prior to the pandemic accelerated conditions such as alcohol-related liver disease.
- People who needed support were not able to access it during the pandemic and were reluctant to go to emergency departments during the pandemic.
Compounding these facts are the actions of the alcohol companies and retailers who exploited the pandemic as an opportunity to drive even higher use of alcohol products.
During the pandemic, we have seen alcoholic products being heavily promoted by alcohol companies and marketed as a way to cope with the stresses and pressures being faced by families,” said Caterina Giorgi, the CEO of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), as per The Guardian.
It is heartbreaking to see the devastation that alcoholic products cause in our communities, [and is] something that can be prevented. We should not forget that behind these numbers and statistics are real people – our family members, our friends, our community.”
Caterina Giorgi, CEO, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE)
While chronic conditions due to alcohol use take a long time to develop, higher use during the pandemic and reduced access to support could have brought on these deaths earlier according to Ms. Giorgi.
Other than alcohol-induced deaths two categories of avoidable mortality that alcohol plays a part are suicides and COVID19-deaths. However, the ABS does not record the part that alcohol plays in these deaths.
The death rate by suicides remained the same in 2021 as in 2020 at 12 deaths per 100,000 people. While deaths caused by COVID-19 decreased in Australia in 2021 compared to 2020 there were 1122 deaths due to the pandemic and it was the 34th leading cause of death. Alcohol is a major risk factor for worsening both mental health issues and increasing susceptibility to COVID-19 complications. Even though these deaths are not categorized as alcohol-induced by ABS, there’s a high chance alcohol played a part in them as well.
Movendi International exposed the lethal interaction between COVID-19 and alcohol. How alcohol fuels the pandemic on individual and societal levels.
- Alcohol increases the health and societal problems arising from the pandemic. For example, alcohol weakens the immune system and makes people more susceptible to infections. And alcohol-centric social contexts have been COVID-19 super spreader events.
- Alcohol increases the burden on healthcare and emergency services which are already stretched due to the COVID-19.
- The alcohol industry exploits the pandemic to change alcohol laws to their benefit.
Products and practices of alcohol companies drive alcohol harm
Movendi International exposed how Big Alcohol exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to push for alcohol delivery and flooded communities, families and even children with pandemic-centric alcohol marketing. This led to increased sales for the alcohol industry at the cost of a devastating impact on people.
As Ms. Giorgi shares in the interview with ABC News, in the first week, of the pandemic, credit card purchases of alcohol products increased by 86%. Alcohol delivery has increased exponentially and more and more alcohol companies deliver alcohol to people in under 30-minutes. This means alcohol companies now have even more data to target people. Those who buy more alcohol products are likely to be ones with addiction or at risk of addiction and those are the ones who will be targeted more by alcohol advertising.
People who may have a problem with alcohol, and who are purchasing lots of alcohol will therefore be targeted with more advertising for alcohol and we just don’t have the right checks and balances in place to stop that from happening,” said Caterina Giorgi, the CEO of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), as per ABC News.
Caterina Giorgi, the CEO of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE)
Alcohol industry practices during the pandemic are examples of how Big Alcohol works to create, promote, and perpetuate an alcogenic society.
Authors of a recent scientific study published in the Journal PLOS ONE pointed out how – despite alcohol being recognized as a carcinogen – Australia remains an alcogenic society where alcohol is available everywhere.
According to the study, alcohol use is rising among middle-aged Australian women placing them at higher risk of breast cancer. But the pervasive alcohol norms in the current alcogenic society are leading to a lack of awareness about the breast cancer risk due to alcohol. And even if they were aware living in an alcogenic society can lead people to disregard or accept the risk. However, women who participated in the study do want information on alcohol and breast cancer risk. They think that if knowledge became more common, risk messages may not be rejected.
This alcogenic society is perpetuated and exploited by the alcohol industry to increase the availability of alcohol products to maximize profits at the cost of the health and well-being of people.
FARE calls for improved alcohol policy solutions, including for alcohol advertising to protect Australian communities, families, and children from the harms caused by the products and practices of the alcohol industry. There is public support for better protection against alcohol advertising in Australia. A poll of 1000 Australians by the Australia Institute think tank found that 51% supported a ban on alcohol advertisements on TV.
If we are actually focusing on people’s health then we’d have good controls over marketing, we’d have alcohol price based upon its alcohol content, and we’d not allow data on whether someone has looked at an alcohol rehabilitation center on being able to be sold to people. These sorts of things contribute to more harm and governments have the choice to change this,” said Caterina Giorgi, the CEO of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), as per ABC News.
Caterina Giorgi, the CEO of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE)
[This article was updated on November 1, 2022 as per new information from Daily Mail Online.]
[This article was updated on November 7, 2022 as per new information from ABC News.]
Sources
The Guardian: “Alcohol-induced deaths in Australia at their highest in 10 years“
The Guardian: “‘Alcogenic society’: Australian hospitals see steep rise in severe alcohol-related disease“
Insight: “Delivering a message: alcohol causes breast cancer“
Australian Bureau of Statistics: “Causes of Death, Australia“
Australian Bureau of Statistics: “Low death rate, almost no flu but more alcohol-induced deaths in 2021“
Mail Online: “How draconian lockdowns led to surge in alcohol-related deaths… and more than DOUBLE the number of Aussies died from suicide than Covid“
ABC News: “The shocking rise in alcohol-induced deaths“
