Alcohol time bomb set to explode
Jill Stark
May 5, 2007

Australia's binge-drinking culture is a "ticking time bomb" threatening to overload the public health system within decades, health experts have warned.

A rise in dangerous drinking across all age groups, class boundaries and cultural lines has prompted calls for action. Top researchers predict Australia will see a big rise in chronic diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver, cancers and brain disorders in the next 20 years.

Addiction doctors say they are seeing a growing trend of drinkers as young as 18 suffering tremors, sweats and even seizures. Many are drinking a bottle of spirits a day, with experts predicting a rise in brain damage cases.

Those in the field have accused governments of failing to tackle the crisis, citing generous political donations from the alcohol industry and huge tax revenues as factors behind the complacency. The claims comes as the World Health Organisation prepares to debate on May 14 a resolution to reduce global alcohol harm, the fifth leading risk factor for premature death and disability.

Professor Ian Webster, a drug and alcohol specialist and chairman of the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation, said: "We have got to change the way our culture dances with alcohol or future generations will suffer the consequences. At the moment it's a bit like David fighting Goliath." He said the alcohol industry had "powerful political connections", making cultural change difficult.

An Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report on GP consultations reveals that risky consumption of alcohol among 18 to 24-year-old men jumped from 40 per cent of patients in 1999 to 49 per cent in 2006, while rates for women rose from 33 to 36 per cent. Rates for 25 to 44- year-old men grew from 35 to 41 per cent and 22 to 25 per cent in women.

International researcher Professor John Toumbourou, from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, said alcohol could be dangerous for young brains but Federal Government guidelines did not rule out drinking for under 18s, suggesting only that it be "kept to a minimum". " With children there's really no evidence at all that a moderate exposure to alcohol does any good," he said.

" Increasing numbers of families will be affected by alcohol dependence and abuse. As this generation moves through young adulthood into adulthood we'll see an increase in all categories of illness related to alcohol, and it's an extensive list - liver failure, a variety of cancers, brain damage and higher deaths down the line. To me that's a ticking time bomb."

Older generations are also a growing concern, with risky drinking among 65 to 74-year-old women rising from 15 per cent in 1999 to more than 17 per cent in 2006 and from 12 to 14 per cent in over 75s.

The director of the National Drug Research Institute, Professor Steve Allsop, said: "Even if nothing changes we're going to have a substantial increase over the next 20 years of older people who are drinking at levels that cause harm to themselves and potentially to others. And it may be that things get worse rather than better because if the baby boomers take their drinking habits into older age that's going to be a real problem."

Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation president Alex Wodak said millions were affected by alcohol-related crime, domestic violence, health and social problems but governments were loath to tackle an alcohol industry that had an annual turnover in excess of $50 billion, contributing 2.5 per cent to the nation's gross domestic product.

" There are so many forces seeking to liberalise the availability of alcohol and so few sources trying to keep a lid on alcohol consumption," he said. In 2002-03, funding to political parties from the alcohol beverage industry and hotels association was just under $7 million.

The federal Minister for Ageing, Christopher Pyne, who has responsibility for alcohol, drugs and tobacco, said policy was based on "sound data and evidence". He said $25.2 million was being spent on a national alcohol campaign, $50 million on treatment and $5 million on education programs.

The chief executive of the Hotels Association Victoria, Brian Kearney, said donations were made to ensure governments were "as fully informed as possible", and "any proposition that the industry is trying to influence politicians to retain the status quo is ill-founded".

Alcohol is directly responsible for 3000 to 4000 deaths in Australia each year, more than twice the number of deaths caused by all other drugs combined, excluding tobacco. " Illicit drugs capture the headlines . . . but politicians aren't proud to speak about anything to do with alcohol," Professor Webster said.

A senior drug and alcohol worker, who asked not to be named, saying he feared jeopardising government funding, said Australians were being "fed a line" on crystal meth or "ice". " Alcohol is not a vote winner," he said. "Getting tough on ice is an absolute winner and that's why even (Opposition Leader Kevin) Rudd is coming out and saying ridiculous things about ice because he knows there are votes in it. " Alcohol is the number one issue in our community affecting more people than anything else."



Source: © 2007 The Age