When to sell alcohol

The WHO website states: “In many parts of the world, drinking alcoholic beverages is a common feature of social gatherings. Nevertheless, the consumption of alcohol carries a risk of adverse health and social consequences related to its intoxicating, toxic and dependence-producing properties.”

Alcohol has been found to be a major contributor to the development of colorectal cancer- Sina Bugeja

The most well known alcohol-related harms are probably those associated with alcoholism, the liver, and increased risk of accident (primarily motor accidents); however, alcohol consumption can put one on the risk list for many more serious medical conditions.

It has been found that one in every 10 cancers in men and one in every 33 cancers in women are a result of alcohol consumption.

Cancers found to have a direct causational relationship with alcohol include cancers of the mouth, oesophagus, larynx, liver, colorectum and female breast.

Drinking one unit of alcohol per day would mean that a woman is consuming only half of her weekly alcohol limit; incidentally, drinking one unit of alcohol per day would also mean that a woman has increased her risk of developing breast cancer by a staggering nine per cent.

Breast cancer is currently one of the leading cancers affecting the Maltese population with 247 new cases being diagnosed in 2008 and 95 women dying of the illness in 2009.

Statistics from the National Cancer Registry show there were 138 new male cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed in 2008, and the same illness killed 57 men in 2009.

Slightly fewer women were affected, with 93 new female cases being diagnosed in 2008 and 45 women dying of the illness in 2009.

Alcohol has been found to be a major contributor to the development of colorectal cancer with as little as one drink per day increasing the chances of developing this cancer by 10 per cent.

For men drinking one glass of alcohol per day means one would only be consuming one third of their recommended weekly alcohol limit. Consumption of more than 30 grams of alcohol a day, less than what is found in two pints of lager, increases the risk of developing colorectal cancer by 25 per cent.

All this could be considered the consequences of ‘an acceptable level of alcohol consumption’, but one should keep in mind that the severity and immediacy of consequences increase simultaneously with the amount consumed.

The 2007 ESPAD study revealed that Malta was one of the countries with the highest rates of heavy episodic drinking (during 30 days prior to the gathering of data); conversely it also had one of the lowest rates of drunkenness in the same time period.

This may indicate that Maltese 15- and 16-year-old students are drinking significantly more alcohol than their European counterparts, while they perceive themselves as being intoxicated less often than their European counterparts.

This could indicate a greater likelihood for risk-taking while intoxicated in comparison with European youth in general due to the perception of lack of alcoholic influence.

Another staggering statistic is that Maltese students’ use of pills in combination with alcohol (11 per cent) is almost twice as common as the ESPAD average.

The effects of drunkenness can be tracked across many hospital emergency departments and morgues.

Approximately 5.2 million people die per year from alcohol-related accidents and “alcohol can account for one-tenth of the burden of global disease,” according to WHO.

Injuries and deaths related to alcohol include road traffic accidents, drowning, burns, poisoning, falls and deliberate violence.

Deliberate violence related to alcohol includes such crimes as murder and assaults against women. In 1999, Diadema, a city in São Paulo state, Brazil, had a significantly high homicide rate – it was found that 65 per cent of all killings were alcohol related.

In 2002, controls on the sale of alcohol were implemented, restricting bars to closing at 11 p.m. From 2002 to 2005, the homicide rate declined by 44 per cent and there was a 17 per cent decline in assaults against women.

Several studies have concluded that restrictions on alcohol availability are essential in controlling consumption and consumption related death, injury and disease.

A recent control measure implemented locally was to restrict hours of sale of alcohol in confectionaries. Empirical research indicates “that the expansion of hours and days of sale increased prevalence of excessive alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems”

According to this research, “these findings provide sufficient evidence for the effectiveness on maintaining limits on hours of sale for the reduction of alcohol-related harms... reducing hours of sale... is likely to avert alcohol-related harms”.

Ms Bugeja is chief executive officer at the Foundation for Social Welfare Services.