The Impact of Alcohol Misuse on Public Health: An Essay

This essay addresses alcohol misuse as a significant public health concern. It begins by defining alcohol misuse according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and explores its wide-ranging social and health harms, including links to various cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and mental health issues. The essay delves into the epidemiology of alcohol misuse, citing statistics on global mortality and disease burden, and examines the economic costs associated with alcohol-related harms. It then discusses governmental policies aimed at reducing alcohol misuse, including health service responses, pricing policies, and marketing regulations. The essay also explores the physical and psychological impacts of alcohol consumption, detailing effects on brain function, heart health, and mental well-being. Finally, it addresses national public health concerns and interventions, such as counseling services and self-help groups, concluding with recommendations and strategies to combat alcohol abuse. The essay draws on various sources including WHO reports, academic journals, and government publications, to provide a comprehensive overview of the issue.

Public Health Alcohol Misuse
Introduction
The purpose of this essay is to identify a public health issue Alcohol misuse. To facilitate the
discussion Alcohol misuse as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is the alcohol
use that places people at risk for problems, including “dependence,” “at-risk use,” and
“clinical alcohol abuse,”. Although the use of alcohol brings with it a number of pleasures,
alcohol increases the risk of a wide range of social harms, generally in a dose dependent
manner (Clay and Parker, 2020). The holistic impact alcohol have on the wellbeing of an
individual will be explored. The stage of change model (Rao, 2020). Policy will be explored in
relation to alcohol misuse.
A recent World Health Organisation report links drinking alcohol to an increased risk of
developing more than 200 health conditions (Alcohol, 2020). This will include health risk
relate to cancer of the breast, mouth, liver, colon, esophagus, throat as well as it also
include health issues like high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, digestive problem, liver
disease and many more.
Alcohol misuse is one of the most shocking non communicable deceases that contribute
chronic illness, violent crime antisocial behaviour and high mortality (Weisz and Gusmano,
2020). According to the worldwide report on alcohol and health published in 2011 by
(WHO), the danger use of alcohol results in 2.5 million deaths each worldwide (WHO 2011).
Claimed to the same report, by 2011, alcohol misuse is the world’s third largest risk factor
for disease burden, and it is the leading risk factor in the Americas and the Western Pacific
and the second largest in Europe.
Alcohol is linked with many serious developmental issues and social, including child neglect
and abuse, absence in the workplace and violence (Harvey, 2000).
Epidemiology of Alcohol Misuse
According to the current data or evaluation it is determined as around 3 millions death take
place due to excess use of alcohol which will represent as the 5.3 percent of all deaths. In
addition to this over the 5.1 percent of the global burden related to disease as well as
injuries is attributable to the alcohol which are measured in DALYs (disability adjusted life
years). According to the WHO, 2018 data around 13.5 percent of death among the 20 to 30
years people is due to consumption of alcohol at the high stage (Alcohol, 2020). Moreover,
according to WHO there are causal relationship among the harmful use of alcohol as well as
range of mental and behavioural disorder as well as it also related to other non
communicable condition and injuries.
The government of United Kingdom estimated the cost of alcohol related harms to the
National Health Service (NHS) to be £2.7 billion in 2006/07 prices (NHS 2012), while The
total economic cost of alcohol to the EU was estimated to be 125 billion (WHO Europe,
2009).
Policies
According to WHO (World trade organization, 2019) there are several areas on which
government is working in order to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. This is so because
according to their analysis around 3 millions people loss their life due to harmful

consumption of alcohol (10 areas governments could work with to reduce the harmful use of
alcohol, 2020). Due to this respective organisation is planning or developing strategies in
order to improve health and social outcome of the individual, community and families. In
respect of this they are planning to enhance the awareness of people in respect of the
consumption of alcohol. The areas on which respective organisation is focusing are health
services responses, community action, pricing policies, availability of alcohol, marketing of
alcoholic beverages or drinks, minimizing negative impact of drinking and alcohol
intoxication, drink driving policies and counter measures and many more.
According to above image it can be determined that it is health for men to consume
2 drinks and for females 1 drink per day. In respect of this they must considered standard
amount of drinking such as 16 oz. Beer, 8 oz malt liquor, 5 oz wine and 1.5 hard liquor
(short). In addition to this a person is considered as drinker when they consume 4 to 5
drinks a day as well as there are main four symptoms of alcoholism such as craving,
dependence, loss of control and tolerance.
Physical Health Impact
As per the perspective of Elaine K. Luo, 2018, there are several impact of the
consumption of alcohol which are experienced by a person (The Effects of Alcohol on Your
Body, 2020). Due to which it is government and medical professional suggest to consume
alcohol in limits so that it not impact on the human physical health. From which some of the
main impact of alcohol on the physical health condition is mentioned below:-
Brain
Damage to brain cells
 Dementia
 Poor memory
 Learning and concentration difficulties
Heart
 Strokes and circulation problems
 Weakened heart muscles
 High blood pressure and high cholesterol, causing a strain on your heart

 Rapid or irregular heartbeat
Psychological Health Impact
 The quantity and frequency of consumption
 The family history, gender, age, genetic background and education level
Short-term psychological effects:
1. Affected vision, coordination and reflexes
2. Reduced inhibitions
Long-term psychological effects:
1. Interrupted brain development
2. Increased depression and anxiety
National Public Health
Alcohol use is a major cause of sickness in England. More than 10 million people (20% of
women and 31% men) are now often drinking above the rule set by Government (NAO,
2008), and many of these are likely to suffer illness or injury as a result. In England, it is
estimated that 18% of the adult population (7.6 million) are drinking at ‘hazardous’ levels,
another 7% (2.9 million) are showing evidence of harm to their own physical and mental
health, including roughly 1.1 million people who have a level of alcohol addiction (NAO,
2008).
Interventions
Providing improved counselling services and treatment programs for people with alcohol
abuse in the community, discuss with local employers, colleges, policy makers and schools.
The treatment options for alcohol mistreat depend on the extent of your drinking and
whether you are trying to moderate or abstinence. Many people who have alcohol
dependency find it useful to attend self help groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous
(AA).Brief Intervention is a short counselling session that last about 5 to 10 minutes, and
covers risks associated with emotional issues of your drinking, advice about reducing the
amount you drink, and alcohol support network available.
Conclusion
Alcohol misuse is one of the most devastating non-communicable diseases that can cause
chronic sickness, violent crime, anti social behaviour and high mortality. The social
determinants of alcohol misuse based on age, gender, family background and ethnicity was
addressed. The policies put in place, the last section provided some recommendations and
strategies to address the issue of alcohol abuse.

References
Alcohol.org. (2019). Effects of Alcohol on the Body and Mind: Short & Long-Term. [online]
Available at: https://www.alcohol.org/effects/ [Accessed 20 Nov. 2019].
Askaboutalcohol.ie. (2019). Physical health - Alcohol's effects on the body. [online] Available
at: https://www.askaboutalcohol.ie/health/effects-on-the-body/ [Accessed 20 Nov. 2019].
Healthyplace.com. (2019). Psychological Effects of Alcohol | HealthyPlace. [online] Available
at: https://www.healthyplace.com/addictions/alcoholism/psychological-effects-of-alcohol
[Accessed 20 Nov. 2019].
Kneale, J. and French, S. (2008). Mapping alcohol: Health, policy and the geographies of
problem drinking in Britain. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 15(3), pp.233-249.
Nice.org.uk. (2019). [online] Available at:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta325/resources/costing-report-pdf-428311117
[Accessed 20 Nov. 2019].
World Health Organization. (2019). Global status report on alcohol and health 2018. [online]
Available at: https://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/
en/ [Accessed 20 Nov. 2019].
Books and Journals
Clay, J. M. and Parker, M. O., 2020. Alcohol use and misuse during the COVID-19 pandemic:
a potential public health crisis?. The Lancet Public Health. 5(5). p.e259.
Rao, R. T., 2020. Alcohol and public mental health for older people: 20 years of UK policy
change. Journal of Public Mental Health.
Weisz, D. and Gusmano, M. K., 2020. Alcohol consumption by older New York City residents:
the need for new policies to address misuse. Alcohol and alcoholism.
Online
Alcohol. 2020. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/alcohol>.
10 areas governments could work with to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. 2020. [Online].
Available through:<https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/10-
areas-for-national-action-on-alcohol>.
The Effects of Alcohol on Your Body. 2020. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.healthline.com/health/alcohol/effects-on-body>.