The World Health Organisation has just published its ‘Global status report on alcohol and health’ for 2014 in which it carries individual country profiles of alcohol consumption in 194 member states and the impact on public health.
The report shows that, worldwide, 3.3 million deaths occurred in 2012 as a result of harmful use of alcohol. It stresses that alcohol consumption not only leads to dependence but also increases the risk of developing more than 200 diseases. Moreover, drinking abuse can lead to violence and crime.
How does Malta rate? At first glance, not too badly. The Maltese consume an average of seven litres of pure alcohol a year, which is well below the European average of nearly 11 litres and far below the high-scoring Belarusians, Moldovans, Lithuanians and Russians, who score an average of over 15 litres of pure alcohol per person each year.
Globally, Europe is the continent with the highest consumption of alcohol per head. Malta’s consumption placed it at 43rd out of 53 in the European batting order. Interestingly, the EU member State with the lowest consumption was Italy, with about half Malta’s consumption.
But WHO’s alcohol consumption report on Malta may hide some worrying trends. It points out that, as a rule, the greater the economic wealth of a country, the smaller the number who abstain from drinking and the more alcohol is consumed. This has been the trend in Malta over the last decade or so, although almost a fifth of Maltese are lifetime abstainers, albeit with a marked disparity between men and women (10.7 per cent for men and 27.6 per cent for women).
However, the most worrying aspect of the study concerns alcohol abuse among Maltese 16-year olds, where it appears to be rampant. Malta had ranked second among 36 countries for binge-drinking in a survey conducted in 2011.
The adverse social and health consequences of excessive drinking are well known. The battle to tackle anti-social drinking in modern, more affluent societies has to start early if it is to be successful. Anybody wishing to see the daily effects of alcohol misuse among youngsters should visit Paceville any summer or winter Friday or Saturday night.
The WHO report pointed out that Malta had no national policy on alcohol consumption. The lack of such a policy could well be storing up significant health and social problems for the future. The Children’s Commissioner has already made proposals for raising the age limit for drinking to 18 in line with that practised in most European countries.
This is clearly a sensible step in the circumstances. But it also needs to be backed up by stronger measures to stop children from being served alcohol in bars and restaurants, as well as concerted preventive health campaigns to bring home to young people the long-term harm caused by alcohol abuse.
WHO goes further and also recommends the possible introduction of fiscal measures to discourage alcohol consumption. While applying heavy taxes to alcohol may be a good way of increasing government revenue, there is no evidence to suppose that, on its own, it reduces abusive alcohol consumption.
In Malta, with its not insignificant wine- and beer-making industries and its attraction as a tourist destination, the unintended consequences of such measures could be nugatory. Nevertheless, as the report highlights, while Malta’s alcohol problems seem, on the surface, to be reasonable, there is absolutely no room for complacency, especially where the younger generation is concerned.