highest alcohol consumption country in africa

“We’ve seen people’s mental health suffer greatly throughout this pandemic and especially when we have had strict measures in place that have limited our normal activities and connection with support networks,” the Turning Point executive clinical director, Prof Dan Lubman, said. “We have this perfect storm for an increase in alcohol harm and we’re only just starting to see that.”Ī joint Turning Point and Monash University study found ambulance attendances for alcohol-related harm increased by 9% in Victoria last year, at the same time the state was under Covid restrictions. Companies have been aggressively marketing, and using Covid and preying on anxieties to sell their products,” she said. “In such an uncertain time, there’s been a sustained change in the way alcohol is sold. Giorgi said there had been a $3.3bn increase in alcohol sales into people’s homes in 2020 – a trend continuing in 2021. Those habits are hard to undo as we continue to live in this Covid environment.” “There’s an emerging picture there is a significant proportion of people who are drinking at riskier levels … to cope with stress and anxiety. “We’ve seen a steep increase, which has sustained for calls for help to drug and alcohol hotlines, and increased alcohol involvement with family violence callouts. “Australia tops the world in both the number of times people report getting drunk and in seeking emergency medical treatment for alcohol … Both of those indicators suggest people are drinking at fairly risky levels,” she said.

The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education chief executive, Caterina Giorgi, said the statistics were “concerning”, and that a clear picture of the impact of harmful alcohol use during the pandemic was only just emerging. Australian participants also tripled the global average on seeking emergency care for their drinking (3.9% compared with the global average of 1.2%).

Highest alcohol consumption country in africa