Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI) notes with concern the latest Health Research Board (HRB) figures outlining drug and alcohol-related poisoning deaths for 2021, which were published today, Sept 25. .
The figures show that in 2021, 64 alcohol-only poisoning deaths were recorded – that’s more than one person per week overdosing from alcohol. As well as these 64 people, there were another 91 overdoses recorded – out of a total of 354 – in which alcohol was a contributing factor in the cause of death.
AAI CEO Dr Sheila Gilheany said: “The HRB poisoning figures highlight once again alcohol’s lethal nature. Sadly the 155 people whose deaths are recorded in this data represent only 10% of all alcohol-related deaths annually – more than 1,500 people, which is about four times the number of people who die from other drug use.
“What’s really shocking is the fact that so few people realise just how poisonous alcohol actually is. A bottle of vodka is enough to kill you. Four in every five alcohol-only overdose deaths took place in a private dwelling, and more than half of those who died were alone.”
The difference, however, between alcohol and other drugs included in the HRB report is that alcohol is legal, meaning the government has the power to reduce the number of alcohol-related deaths via the World Health Organisation’s ‘Best Buys’ policy solutions of controls on pricing, availability and marketing of alcohol.
Excise duties have long been recognised as an effective mechanism to combat alcohol harm, and in its pre-Budget 2025 submission AAI is calling for a 15% increase in excise duties on alcohol and that going forward it should be automatically linked to inflation.
Dr Gilheany continued: “The alcohol industry bombards us constantly with glossy marketing to distract us from the reality of what their product really is – an intoxicating, psychoactive, carcinogenic, mood-altering and dependence-producing drug. Alcohol is also Ireland’s cheapest and most widely available drug, and the human misery that follows in its wake that these latest HRB figures highlight shows once again just how necessary it is to have controls to try to deal with alcohol harm.
“To see a government minister like Peter Burke recklessly parroting industry spin by calling for a reduction in excise duties in the budget is an insult to the people and families whose lives are destroyed by alcohol, as this report demonstrates. Alcohol harm also places a huge burden on government finances – from the Justice system through Health, workplace productivity and children and family impacts – costing the state around €12bn annually. Excise duties raised from alcohol bring in only 10% of this – €1.2bn.
“The government must put public health before the private wealth of the alcohol industry by increasing excise duties on alcohol in the next budget. It would be a lifesaver.”
ENDS
NOTES
- AAI pre-Budget submission can be accessed at:
https://alcoholireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Pre-Budget-2025-Submission.pdf - AAI’s media language guide can be accessed here
