Reports in the media on the World Health Organisation’s Global Status Report about Alcohol and Health 2014 highlight the fact that, per capita, the consumption of alcohol by the Maltese is lower than the European Union average. While this is in itself a very positive phenomenon, Aġenzija Sedqa would like to point out that the situation regarding alcohol consumption in this country still presents a number of worrying features.

Among individuals who consume alcohol, some will become addicted. The number of Maltese who are addicted to alcohol has been estimated by WHO as being approximately 9,500.

The problems associated with alcoholism include premature death, illness, hospitalisation, criminal behaviour and family and other social problems.

About 300 severely-addicted individuals each year seek Aġenzija Sedqa’s help. For each alcohol-addicted person, a number of others are affected adversely enough to require help and support in their own right or to seek further assistance such as by the police, domestic abuse and medical services.

The social and economic cost of alcoholism is exorbitantly high and it behoves any society not only to respond to drinking problems by providing medical and support services but also to do all in its power to limit the onset of such problems through policies known to be effective.

Another hazardous pattern of alcohol consumption is binge drinking. Binge drinking has become a prominent aspect of the local drinking scene. This habit has taken root particularly among the young. Research shows that many of our 15-to 16-year-olds very frequently indulge in excessive drinking over a short period of time with the express intention of getting drunk.

Among teenagers – and this is by no means limited to Malta – binge drinking has assumed the role of a rite of passage, whereby young people believe they can signal the fact they have shed off childhood by drinking excessively and, thus, be accepted as part of a peer of adolescents. Among teenagers and young adults, the effects are often devastating: accidents, unprotected sex, teenage and unwanted pregnancies, physical fights, poor educational attainment, absence from work, drink-driving and greater risk of addiction are frequent enough. And the list is by no means complete.

Many of those who over indulge in alcohol choose to drive. Drinking and driving is a toxic cocktail with sometimes fatal consequences. While statistics show that the number of arraignments for driving under the influence is quite low, this is probably due to very low levels of enforcement except for the Christmas period, when the police mount an impressive and effective operation.

The social and economic cost of alcoholism is exorbitantly high

Experienced observers of the local scene believe that this dangerous practice is very widespread. Research is lacking in this regard but one of the few studies known to have been carried relating to the early 1990s showed that about 25 per cent of traffic fatalities involved the use of alcohol – and blood tests were not carried out in all cases.

Drink-driving is claiming lives and our society still has to find the resources to ensure intensive, frequent and visible random breath-testing of drivers. This would reduce traffic-related fatalities considerably.

In any community there is a multiplicity of problems associated with alcohol use, ranging from medical – the International Agency for the Research on Cancer now speaks of alcohol as the cause of several cancers – to social to economic.

Practically all of these are related to the amount of per capita consumption, so the confirmation that Malta’s is relatively low is welcome indeed.

However, there is no room for complacency. The thrust of all policy and other initiatives should be to lower it further through measures proven to be effective and to zoom in on those areas of alcohol abuse, like binge-drinking and drink-driving, which are of particular concern.

Manuel Mangani is manager, Aġenzija Sedqa.

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