In England and Wales, 7,423 people have died as a result of binge drinking in 2020, an increase of around 20% from data from the previous year, the May 6 said on Thursday. National Bureau of Statistics (ONS), noting a very sharp increase in this figure from the first confinement in March.
This is the highest annual number of deaths recorded since the organization recorded them, in 2001.
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The alcohol death rate in the first quarter of 2020 (January to March) was "
statistically similar to previous years,
" the ONS points out, "
but the rates for the second quarter, third quarter and fourth quarter 2020 were significantly higher than those of all other years
”. "
The ONS indicates that this increase coincides with the onset of the pandemic,
" said Sadie Boniface, director of research at the Institute of Alcohol Studies. It also coincides with the series of three lockdowns, the first of which was announced by the British government on March 23, 2020.
The deaths recorded by the ONS are mostly linked to long-term addiction problems: 80% were due to liver disease triggered by alcohol, while only 10% were caused by behaviors or conditions mental health risks related to alcohol and 6% are due to alcohol poisoning. “
This means that the increase is not explained by the fact that people who previously drank at lower risk levels increased their consumption during the pandemic,
” Sadie Boniface analyzed. According to her, the causes of this "
alarming
" finding are rather to be found on the side of the increase in consumption among people who already drank a lot, but also the lack of "
access to care
"."
For example, liver disease is often an emergency, but people may have been afraid to go to the emergency room because of the virus,
”she explains. However, the researcher invites to closely monitor the evolution of people who began to drink during the pandemic, arguing that "
the consequences on health of these important changes in the habits of alcohol consumption remain largely to be determined
" .
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