Belarus took first place in the world in terms of alcohol-related deaths: The Lancet study
In the largest study to date on the effects of alcohol on health, published by The Lancet, Belarus ranked first in alcohol-related deaths and in the top three in years lost life.
Journal The Lancet Public Health presented a large-scale study based on data from the World Health Organization, sales statistics, population surveys and model calculations. The analysis covers the period from 2000 to 2020: the researchers tracked the dynamics of deaths and years of life lost due to alcohol over two decades, and separately considered the year 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic significantly changed the pattern of consumption.
According to the authors’ calculations, in 2019, each adult consumed an average of 5.5 liters of pure alcohol. Alcohol was associated with 2.6 million deaths worldwide, equal to 33.2 cases per 100,000 population and accounting for 4.7% of all deaths. The total number of years of life lost was 116 million, or 4.6% of the global figure. In 2020, global average consumption dropped to 4.9 liters per person due to bar and restaurant closures, travel restrictions and social isolation. At the same time, the difference between regions remained huge.
In the study, Belarus was named the world leader in the consequences of alcohol consumption. The authors emphasize that the country ranks first in terms of alcohol-related mortality, and ranks among the top three in terms of DALYs.
DALYs—years of life lost due to premature death or disease caused by alcohol—also remain extremely high. In Belarus, this indicator reached 5,596 years per 100,000 population. For comparison: the world level was only 1482. According to this criterion, the country is second only to Russia and Ukraine, occupying the third place in the world.
Researchers pay special attention to the level of consumption. In 2019, one adult resident of Belarus accounted for 11.2 liters of pure alcohol per year. In 2020, against the background of the pandemic and the imposed restrictions, this indicator decreased by approximately 0.4 liters to 10.8 liters. Thus, Belarus found itself in an absolute anti-rating: first place in the world for alcohol-related deaths and third for DALYs.
The second place in the world is occupied by Russia, where in 2019, alcohol-related deaths were 151.8 cases per 100,000 population (range 136.9–167.6), and DALYs reached 5,997 (5,410–6,615). In Lithuania, 145.2 deaths (128.3–162.7) and 5624 lost years of life (4950–6339) were recorded. In Latvia, these figures were equal to 142.6 deaths (126.1–159.9) and 5472 DALYs (4812–6174). Ukraine ranked fifth with 132.4 deaths (117.2–147.8) and 5,095 DALYs (4,527–5,687).
Poland has better indicators than its eastern neighbors, but still significantly exceeds the world average. There, the mortality rate was 78.3 cases per 100,000 population (69.1–88.4), and the number of lost years of life was 3,012 (2,682–3,365). Thus, the whole of Eastern Europe forms a regional “belt of risk”, where mortality and DALYs are several times higher than the world average.
