CYPRUS has among the lowest consumption of alcohol per capita in the EU but when it comes to those who do like a tipple, binge drinking is quite prevalent.
According to a report released yesterday on alcohol in the EU, compiled by the World Health Organsiation (WHO), Cypriot alcohol consumption stands at 9.3 litres per capita compared to the EU average of 12.4. Malta came in at the lowest with 8.1 litres per capita, Greece with 10.5 and the UK with 12.5.
When it came to so-called binge drinking – six units of alcohol on a single occasion at least once a month – 48 per cent of Cypriot men and 11.9 per cent of Cypriot women were classed in this category.
At the same time some 6.4 per cent of Cypriot men and 13.7 per cent of Cypriot women are lifetime non drinkers, compared to the EU average of only 5.6 per cent for men and 13.5 per cent for women.
Cyprus also scored second to last in terms of alcohol-related deaths in the age group 15-64 with less than 2.0 per cent of deaths directly caused by drinking in each gender. Romania had the highest number of female alcohol-related deaths at 13 per cent and Latvia for men with 27 per cent among those who were heavy drinkers.
According to the report the countries of southern Europe – Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain – have a Mediterranean drinking pattern characterised by almost daily drinking of alcohol – often wine with meals. “The overall volume of consumption has traditionally been high, except in Cyprus and Malta,” said the report.
Alcohol consumption in Europe is highest in the central-eastern and eastern countries and lowest in the Nordic countries.
But the Nordic countries and eastern Europe have seen an increase in adult per capita consumption, whereas western and southern Europe have experienced a decrease. Beer is the most prominent alcoholic beverage in almost all regions. Only in southern Europe does wine remain the most frequently consumed alcoholic drink, but even in southern Europe, the consumption of wine has been decreasing at a high rate.
It is estimated 13.9 per cent of all deaths in men and 7.7 per cent of all deaths in women across the bloc are alcohol attributed.
“And even in the region with the relatively lowest burden, southern Europe, about 9.2 per cent and 6.5 per cent of all deaths in men and women, respectively, are due to alcohol.
“This means that in the European region which has the lowest alcohol-attributable burden, more than one in every 11 male deaths and one in every 16 female deaths are due to alcohol,” said the report.
In some central-eastern and eastern European countries, the rate is twice this.
For men, the highest contribution to alcohol-attributable mortality is made by liver cirrhosis (26 per cent) and unintentional injury (23 per cent), followed by cancer (16 per cent) and intentional injury (15 per cent). For women, more than two thirds of alcohol-attributable deaths arise from liver cirrhosis (37 per cent) and cancer (31 per cent), with cardiovascular disease as a distant third cause (11 per cent). Alcohol causes between 75 per cent and 80 per cent of all liver cirrhosis in Europe. It has also been identified as one of the most important risk factors in traffic accidents.
Drivers aged 16–20 years are three times more likely to crash than drivers who are older than 30. However, although young people are at the greatest relative risk of having a drink–driving crash, in absolute terms drink–driving and related crashes and fatalities are more common among middle-aged people
It is estimated that 33 per cent of motor vehicle traffic injuries to males and 11 per cent to females are due to alcohol.
