The impact of alcohol consumption on global health

In 2010, only 38.3% of the world population aged 15 years and older had drunk alcohol in the past 12 months. Nevertheless, alcohol’s impact on global health is dramatic. In 2012 about 3.3 million deaths were attributable to alcohol consumption, 5.9% of all deaths. This is greater than the proportion of all deaths from HIV/AIDS (2.8%), violence (0.9%) and tuberculosis (1.7%) put together. In terms of the global burden of disease and injury, measured in disability adjusted life years (DALY s), 5.1% of all years of potential life lost in the world in 2012 due to premature mortality and disability were attributable to alcohol consumption (WHO, 2014).