Releasing the manual “Alcohol Atlas of India” prepared by the Indian Alcohol Policy Alliance (IAPA), the Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss asked the media to create awareness about the adverse social, economic and medical effects of alcohol abuse among the masses. He said the reach of media has multiplied manifold and this issue should form an important agenda of the media.
Some of the highlights - women are catching up with men in alcohol consumption and Indians have an average of five drinks per sitting. The Health Minister's speech is published in its entirety after the jump.
This subject is very close to my heart. I get disturbed when I see people suffering because of their addiction to Alcohol, Drug, Tobacco or other similar addictives. As you are aware, Alcohol Abuse is a major cause of concern for our country. A recent survey has revealed that the number of Alcohol users in the country is on the rise and the number of persons requiring help is quite large. Alcohol addiction has now not remained just an urban phenomena but even the rural areas are widely affected by this. The trend of women consuming Alcohol is also on the rise.
A study by NIMHANS has shown that the average age of initiation has reduced from 28 years during the 1980s to 20 years in the recent times. The National Survey (study sponsored by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2004) revealed that among adult men, about 21% were current drinkers and about 17% were regular user of alcohol, and among those seeking treatment about 44% were alcohol users. The most recent data on alcohol use is available from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3, 2007) Data collected in 2005-06, published in September 2007. It showed that about 32% were current users of alcohol and between 4 and 13% were daily users. The proportion of users among rural and urban population is very similar (32% and 31% respectively).
We all know that our nation traditionally has a dry or abstaining culture yet now it has one of the largest alcoholic beverage industries in the world. We are the dominant producer of alcohol in the South East Asia region (65%) and contribute to about 7% of the total alcohol beverage imports into the region. The increasing production, distribution, promotion and easy availability of alcohol coupled with the changing value of society and Illiteracy have resulted in a big challenge for the country in the absence of advocacy, research & documentation and a National Policy on Alcohol.
Alcohol abuse causes economic social and emotional problems for the addict as well as his family apart from causing medical problem for the individual. On the medical side, there is no organ in the body, which is not affected adversely because of consumption of Alcohol. Besides severe health problems, accidents also take place while driving after alcohol consumption resulting in head injuries and hospitalizations.
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