One in 20 deaths is attributed to alcohol, killing 3 million people every year, the youth being the worst hit

According to the WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghereyesus, "Drug abuse is a serious harm to health at the individual level. Its consumption increases the risk of chronic diseases and mental health conditions and tragically leads to millions of premature, preventable deaths every year."

He said internationally that, since 2010, there has been a reduction in alcohol consumption and related harm, but health and social burdens are still too high. As noted by the Director-General of WHO, this trend is hitting hard on the young.

According to WHO, in 2019, the most significant relation of alcohol to deaths at 13 percent accounts for possibilities that involve death among people between the ages of 20 and 39 years. Chronic alcohol consumption can lead to many health problems, ranging from cirrhosis of the liver to some cancers. Of the deaths it attributes to in 2019, about 1.6 million were from non-communicable diseases. Of these, some 474,000 were from cardiovascular diseases, 401,000 from cancer, and 724,000 from injuries—including traffic accidents and self-harm. Consuming alcohol also makes people more vulnerable to infectious diseases like tuberculosis, HIV, and pneumonia, said the report.