More than half (60%) of adults in Wales have suffered some form of harm or negative experience in the last year as a result of someone else being under the influence of alcohol, a new report has found.
The Alcohol’s Harms to Others report found almost one in five adults (18%) had felt physically threatened by someone who had been drinking in the last 12 months, one in 10 (11%) had their property damaged by a drinker and one in 20 had suffered physical violence at the hands of someone under the influence of alcohol.
Here's the full list of different alcohol-related harms
In addition, 5% reported being concerned about a child’s wellbeing because of someone else’s drinking.
The report, co-produced by Public Health Wales and Liverpool John Moores University, is the first study into the broad range of harms caused to adults in Wales as a consequence of drinking alcohol.
This is what the experts said
Professor Mark Bellis, director of policy, research, and international development at Public Health Wales, said: “People are increasingly aware of personal risks from cancers and other diseases associated with drinking alcohol. However, this report shows how alcohol can harm not just the drinker but also those around them.
“Some of these harms are due to drunken violence but others result from accidents, threats or even financial problems when too much household income goes on one person’s drinking.
“For those who drink alcohol, staying within the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines on safer drinking is a good way to reduce risks to your own health and the health of your family and friends.”
According to the report, a considerable proportion of harms to others are caused by drinkers who are known to the victim.
These can be friends (in 20% of cases), partners (19% of cases) or family members (20% of cases).
Here's how different age groups varied
The risk of experiencing any harm or negative experience in the past 12 months was highest in younger age groups, with 70% of 18 to 30-year-olds and 75% of 35 to 44-year-olds reporting harms or other negative effects from others’ drinking.
Andrew Misell, director of Alcohol Concern Cymru, said: “Even those of us who don’t drink, or who drink very little, will feel the effects of other people’s drinking from time to time, from low-level disruptive behaviour to full-on aggression and violence.
“When we’ve asked people in Wales nearly half say that their town centre is a no-go area after dark due to alcohol-related trouble.
“Drinking is a feature of most people’s social lives, and the big drinks companies are keen to find more and more reasons for us to drink, but it has to be time to ask whether we want alcohol to play such a prominent part in so many areas of life.”
Here are the harm levels between different social groups
Other notable harms suffered by adults in Wales as a consequence of someone else’s drinking in the last 12 months include: having to contact the police (11%), feeling anxious (29%), having a serious argument (20%), feeling let down (19%) and personally drinking to cope (6%).
Dr Zara Quigg, reader in behavioural epidemiology at the Public Health Institute at Liverpool John Moores University, added: “Identifying the broad impact that alcohol use can have on individuals, those around them and wider society is important to informing the development, implementation and targeting of interventions to reduce and prevent alcohol-related harms.
“The prevalence of alcohol’s harms to others identified in this report should act as a catalyst for policymakers, practitioners and the public, to start working towards addressing the wide-ranging effects of alcohol use, and ultimately improve the public’s health.”
The Alcohol’s Harms to Others report collected data from a survey of 1,071 adults aged 18 and above in Wales.
see-http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/health/more-half-adults-wales-suffer-11938826
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