1600 drink-deaths linked to Covid

Almost 1600 people died in Australia last year as a result of alcohol consumption – the highest figure in a decade – as fears grow that the pandemic has accelerated a trend of risky drinking.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics causes of death data for 2021 released on Wednesday revealed there were 1559 alcohol-induced deaths recorded, a rate of 5.4 deaths for every 100,000 people living in Australia.

Almost 1600 people died in Australia last year as a result of alcohol consumption – the highest figure in a decade – as fears grow that the pandemic has accelerated a trend of risky drinking amid lax regulation and aggressive booze marketing.

Health bodies and community groups said the alarming figure – an increase of 5.8 per cent from the year before – confirms what they had seen on the ground and came as families were placed under unprecedented pressure coping with school closures and reduced social support.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics causes of death data for 2021 released on Wednesday revealed there were 1559 alcohol-induced deaths recorded, a rate of 5.4 deaths for every 100,000 people living in Australia. It was the second consecutive substantial yearly increase, with alcohol-induced deaths rising by 8.3 per cent in the first year of the pandemic.

Alcohol-induced deaths include only those deaths directly caused by alcohol, such as alcohol poisoning or cirrhosis of the liver, and does not include associated harms such as alcohol-related violence or accidents, meaning the true number of deaths associated with alcohol is far higher.

“It’s really concerning to see these rates of alcohol-induced deaths and it’s really concerning to see another significant increase off the back of last year,” Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education CEO Caterina Giorgi said.

“At the beginning of the pandemic we saw a huge increase in alcohol sales and we were really worried about the impact that would have on people accessing alcohol and other treatment services, and on chronic disease and deaths.

“Since the pandemic started in Australia we’re now really starting to see the impact of that increasing risky drinking and the resulting harm.”

 

Ms Giorgi said FARE Australia was very concerned at the aggressive marketing of alcohol to vulnerable consumers and the advent of largely unregulated alcohol delivery apps and outlets which often delivered alcohol late at night in as little as 30 minutes.

“What we know from our surveys is that when people use rapid delivery particularly, that they’re more likely to drink at risky levels,” Ms Giorgi said.

The top causes of death in Australia in 2021 were heart disease, dementia, stroke, lung cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases. Covid-19 was the 34th most common cause, but this will rise substantially in next year’s statistics.

Overall, the rate of deaths in Australia remained lower than it was before the pandemic for the second year in a row, with a mortality rate of 507 deaths for every 100,000 people – the second-lowest mortality rate on record. This was partly due to very low rates of circulating respiratory infections such as influenza and pneumonia. Extraordinarily, only two deaths from flu were recorded in 2021, the lowest ever yearly figure. Before the pandemic in 2017 and 2019, there were more than 1000 deaths from flu in each of those years.

Suicide rates were largely unchanged in 2021 compared with the year before, with 3144 people dying by suicide, making it the 15th leading cause of death but the most common cause of death for people aged 15-24. The suicide rate for males decreased by 2.3 per cent and the suicide rate for females increased by 5 per cent.

However, Suicide Prevention Australia CEO Nieves Murray said there were concerning trends emerging in Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data and the organisation’s own State of the Nation report released last month which revealed 70 per cent of Australians had experienced elevated distress beyond their normal levels compared with this time last year.

“Our sector is working harder than ever before with 88 per cent of providers reporting an increase in demand over the past 12 months,” she said. “It’s time to act. We need to implement smart policy reform now. We can’t be complacent.”