Researcher Dr. Luis Antonio Diaz and colleagues did an ecological multi-national study that included 20 countries in Latin America. They collected data from the World Bank Open Data source and the WHO Global Information System of Alcohol and Health.
Their research found:
- Latin American countries have a high alcohol per capita consumption among those over 15 years at 6.84 liters of pure alcohol.
- The countries with highest alcohol per capita consumption were Uruguay (10.8 liters), Argentina (9.8 liters) and Chile (9.3 liters).
- The prevalence of alcohol use disorder was 4.89%.
- 19 of the 20 Latin American countries had alcohol-related public health policies.
- Among the most frequent alcohol polices were legal age for alcohol use and youth focus (90%), limiting alcohol and driving (90%), and government monitoring systems (90%).
Our results highlight the value of alcohol control policies in all countries to reduce the burden of alcohol consumption,” said Dr. Luis Antonio Diaz, from the department of gastroenterology, Catholic Pontific University of Chile School of Medicine, in Santiago, as per Healio.
Dr. Luis Antonio Diaz, department of gastroenterology, Catholic Pontific University, Chile School of Medicine, Santiago
According to their findings, better alcohol policies in Latin American countries led to,
- Lower risk for alcohol use disorder,
- Lower deaths due to traffic injuries, and
- Reduced alcohol-related cirrhosis.