“A new factsheet, “Alcohol consumption and sustainable development”, prepared by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, draws attention to the barriers alcohol consumption presents across the Region to achieving 13 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Drinking against development

SDGs were adopted by all United Nations Member States as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.  According to the WHO factsheet, current alcohol consumption levels in the Region and worldwide adversely impact 13 SDGs and a total of 52 targets in all three dimensions of the UN 2030 Agenda (economic, social and environmental). Impacts affect a range of health-related indicators, such as child health, infectious diseases and road injuries as well as broader indicators related to economic and social development, environment and equality.

The WHO European Region has the highest global level of alcohol consumption – 9.8 litres of pure alcohol per adult (15 years and older) per year against the backdrop of a global average of 6.4 litres. Alcohol consumption has a causal impact on more than 200 health conditions (diseases and injuries) and in the WHO European Region alone, alcohol use leads to almost one million deaths each year or about 2500 deaths every day. As well as having devastating impacts on communities, societal impacts include increased health-care and community costs, strained health services capacity and productivity losses.”

Find more from WHO Europe (November 2020)