1. How many economic problems are a result of alcohol use and abuse? 2. What sou
ID: 2855552 • Letter: 1
Question
1. How many economic problems are a result of alcohol use and abuse?
2. What sources of information on the web could you find that discussed the costs of alcohol use and abuse? Please provide some websites that may be of interest to the class.
3. Go to the following website (below) and compute various costs of alcohol use. Let the class know what you calculated and discuss what this might mean to a college student:
http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/collegestudents/calculator/calculator.aspx
Explanation / Answer
Strong efforts are made in many countries to estimate the overall economic and social costs ofalcohol use.
Alcohol abuse is associated with many accidents, fights, driving offenses and unprotected sex. Alcohol is responsible in the world for 1.8 million deaths and results in disability in approximately 58.3 million people. Approximately 40 percent of the 58.3 million people disabled through alcohol abuse are disabled due to alcohol-related neuropsychiatric disorders. In South Africa, where HIV infection is epidemic, alcohol abusers exposed themselves to double the risk of this infection. Moreover, problems caused by alcohol abuse in Ireland cost about 3.7 billion euro in 2007. Additionally, alcohol abuse increases the risk of individuals either experiencing or perpetrating sexual violence.
In the United States, many people are arrested for drinking and driving. Also, people under the influence of alcohol commit a large portion of various violent crimes, including child abuse, homicide and suicide. In addition, people of minority groups are affected by alcohol-related problems disproportionately, with the exception of Asian Americans.
Also, according to studies of present and former alcoholic drinkers in Canada, 20% of them are aware that their drinking has negatively impacted their lives in various vital areas including finances, work and relationships.
Alcohol misuse costs the United Kingdom's National Health Service £3 billion per year. The cost to employers is 6.4 billion pounds sterling per year. These figures do not include the crime and social problems associated with alcohol misuse. The number of women regularly drinking alcohol has almost caught up with men.
The economic consequences of alcohol consumption can be severe, particularly for the poor.
Apart from money spent on drinks, heavy drinkers may suffer other economic problems such as lower wages and lost employment opportunities, increased medical and legal expenses, and decreased eligibility for loans. A survey in Sri Lanka indicated that for 7% of men, the amount spent on alcohol exceeded their income.
Alcohol abuse can cause social and economic problems
Social and economic costs cover the negative economic impacts ofalcohol consumption on the material welfare of the society as a whole.They comprise both direct costs - the value of goods and services delivered to address the harmful effects of alcohol, and indirect costs - the value of personal productive services that are not delivered as a consequence of drinking.
In industrialized countries, estimates of social and economic costs ofalcohol use can reach several percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), ranging for instance from 1.1% in Canada to 5-6% in the case of Italy.
Estimates of social and economic costs can help:
Estimating the costs of the impact of alcohol on the material welfare of society is often difficult and requires estimates of the social costs of treatment, prevention, research, law enforcement, lost productivity and some measure of years and quality of life lost.
greenfacts.org , ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
thesebove sites are best to go through
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