A new report by the World Health Organization, which looked broadly at global substance use for people 15 years and older, shows over 3 million people died from substance use in 2019 and 400 million people live with substance use disorders, which can have a number of negative health impacts.
“Substance use severely harms individual health, increasing the risk of chronic diseases, mental health conditions and tragically resulting in millions of preventable deaths every year.
It places a heavy burden on families and communities, increasing exposure to accidents, injuries and violence,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a press release Tuesday.
According to the report, 2.6 million deaths were due to alcohol use and 206 million people had alcohol dependence. About two-thirds of deaths due to alcohol were among men and the highest number of deaths were in the European and African region, while current consumption was common among teenagers.
“On a global scale, [alcohol] is one of the most widely used drugs. Definitely having a negative impact on health,” Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News chief medical correspondent, said on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.
Rates of alcohol deaths have declined since 2010, but the number of people who are dying from alcohol consumption “remains unacceptably high,” according to the report. Many of these deaths were attributed to chronic diseases due to alcohol such as heart disease and cancer.
