Soon, higher taxes to curb binge drinking

Kounteya Sinha, TNN, May 23, 2010, 02.33am IST

NEW DELHI: India will soon crack the whip on binge drinking through higher taxes and tighter marketing regulations against alcoholic products.

For the first time, delegations from all 193 member states of the World Health Organization reached consensus at the World Health Assembly on a resolution to confront the abuse of alcohol.

Target areas were identified for policy options, including community action, pricing policies and reducing the public health impact of illicit alcohol and informally produced alcohol.

WHO says that every year, the abuse of alcohol kills 2.5 million people, including 3.2 lakh young people between 15 and 29 years of age. It is the eighth leading risk factor for deaths globally. WHO estimates there are two billion alcohol consumers worldwide.

Alcohol is said to play a role in 20% to 30% of cases of cancer, liver, chest and throat disease and is blamed for up to a third of all traffic accidents. According to a report in medical journal `Lancet', alcohol causes almost as many deaths and disabilities globally as smoking or high blood pressure. The report also said that alcohol raised the risk of as many as 60 different diseases, with 4% of the global burden of disease attributable to alcohol.

India has a lot to worry about as far as alcohol consumption is concerned. The average age of alcohol consumption in the country has fallen by nearly nine years over the past decade. At present, on an average, Indians take their first sip of alcohol at the age of 19 compared to 28 in the 1990s. Studies now say that in another 5-7 years, a majority of Indians will start consuming alcohol at the age of 15.

Nearly 62.5 million people in India at present drink alcohol with the per capita consumption being around four litres per adult per year. For every six men, one woman drinks alcohol in India. Over 40% of road crashes occur in India during the night, with one-third of them being due to drunk driving.

India also has one of the largest alcoholic beverage industries in the world, producing 65% of the alcohol in South-East Asia.

The strategy drawn up by WHO pushes for an end to flat rates for unlimited drinking and for sponsorship to be regulated. It also calls for increasing taxes on alcohol, lowering blood alcohol limits for drivers and restricting opening hours of bars and liquor stores.

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