MANILA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) in the Western Pacific has called for stricter alcohol policies, citing that alcohol-related deaths reach approximately 500,000 people each year in the region, and the harm alcohol poses to health, families, and the community, the WHO regional office said Wednesday.
"Alcohol-related causes kill half a million people each year in the Western Pacific - nearly one person every minute. It is linked to more than 200 diseases and injuries, with impacts that extend far beyond those who drink - harming families, communities, and the social fabric that binds them together," the UN health agency said.
In 2022, the agency said per-capita alcohol consumption in the Western Pacific region averaged 5.2 liters - higher than the global average of 5 liters.
The WHO recently launched "Alcohol Leaves a Mark" - a regional advocacy campaign urging stronger policies and regulations to protect people from the far-reaching harms of alcohol.
The campaign, which aims to highlight the harms of alcohol and call for stronger regulations to protect people's health and well-being, exposes how alcohol is marketed and normalized despite its damaging impacts on individuals, families, and communities, urging collective action to reduce alcohol harms.
The campaign invites policy-makers, health partners, media, and the public to share campaign materials, start conversations, and support evidence-based regulation.
Meanwhile, the agency lamented that alcohol marketing continues to normalize drinking and target youth through a variety of digital platforms. Without stronger regulation, consumption is projected to rise further.
Through the campaign, the WHO called on policy-makers to raise taxes and pricing on alcoholic drinks; restrict availability; ban or comprehensively restrict alcohol marketing; enforce drink-driving countermeasures; and provide accessible screening, brief interventions, treatment, and support for alcohol use disorders. ■
