China, India boost global booze binge: study
The world consumed ten percent more alcohol per adult in 2017 than in 1990, due in large part to heavier and more widespread drinking in China and India, researchers said Wednesday. On current trends, global consumption per capita will rise another 17 percent over the next decade, they reported in The Lancet. By 2030 half of all adults worldwide will drink alcohol, and almost a quarter will binge drink at least once a month, according to projections covering 189 countries. "The world is not on track to achieve global targets to reduce harmful alcohol use," the authors said, calling for more aggressive counter-measures such as higher taxes and a ban on advertising. The World Health Organization (WHO) goal is to reduce "harmful alcohol use" 10 percent by 2025. Alcohol is linked to over 200 diseases and accounts for more than three million deaths -- 75 percent of them men -- each year, the WHO has said.
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