Over three million of us admit to abusing alcohol. 600-800 thousand is treated in drug addiction clinics. Every year there are 350 new addicts. How to effectively fight our national addiction? Experts of the National Sobriety Congress will discuss this until Sunday.
- We drink more and more. 3 million Poles admit to risky drinking
- Each year, the National Health Fund allocates nearly PLN 10 billion to the fight against addiction
- According to the World Health Organization, in order to solve the alcohol problem, it is imperative to ban all advertising of alcohol
– The three million risk drinkers are a huge group. Not all heavy drinkers will become alcoholics in the future, but the losses caused by excessive and harmful drinkers are much greater than those caused by addicts – said Krzysztof Brzózka, director of the Polish Agency for Solving Alcohol Problems as part of the National Sobriety Congress.
According to the estimates of the National Health Fund, the fight against addiction costs PLN 8-10 billion annually. – This is a huge amount, and in addition it is virtually unnoticeable for the system, because it does not register whether the patient has a sick liver, or suffers from another disease due to alcohol abuse, or for any other reason – emphasized the director of PARPA.
In addition, there are costs related to road safety, the growing number of accidents caused by drunk drivers, losses caused by juvenile vandals damaging property under the influence of alcohol, and what is happening due to the incapacity of addicts to work. We lose between PLN 26 and 32 billion on these activities.
But not only Poles have a problem with alcohol abuse. From the calculations of prof. Emanuele Scafato of the Italian Sanitary Institute, in 2010, due to the abuse of alcohol by citizens, the entire European Union lost almost EUR 160 billion.
Because there is no problem
As Brzózka admitted, a lot is already being done in Poland to counteract alcohol-related problems, but it is still not enough. – We cannot tolerate a situation in which alcohol is something common, everyday, pervasive, influencing our behavior. Brave political decisions are needed – certainly difficult ones – that will help to stop negative trends, appealed Brzózka.
The World Health Organization lists three ways to deal with alcohol abuse. The first is a total ban on advertising alcohol. – Advertising de facto educates young people in the atmosphere of the necessity of alcohol in order to feel good and equal others. They influence those young people who, having problems in their lives, watch an advertisement and see it as having fun, beautiful successful people who drink alcohol. They begin to think that the simplest solution to their problems is reaching for what gives the illusion of happiness and joy – he emphasized.
The second method, recommended by the WHO, is to reduce the direct availability of alcoholic beverages, i.e. the number of points of sale of spirits. – The availability of alcohol at gas stations is completely bizarre, as if it were a basic necessity article, although we know it is not – emphasized the director of PARPA.
There is still a lot of work to do
According to Brzózka, alcohol prices are a completely different issue. – After the last excise increase, alcohol cheaper than before the increase has appeared on the Polish market. For those who are familiar with the management mechanisms of the alcohol industry, it is clear that for producers cheaper alcohol, i.e. more accessible, means greater profits. Therefore, this instrument, which is excise duty, is not used – explained Brzózka.
The National Sobriety Congress is the hope that we will be able to draw the attention of society and government to the problem of alcohol abuse. – Habits do not change overnight, but even if introducing changes in our mentality would take 10, 15 or even 20 years, we are on the right track – he stressed.