More than three million deaths worldwide are caused by alcohol each year - and Europeans drink more than anyone else



Drinking alcohol increases the risk of developing more than 200 diseases

The level of consumption is stable in Europe, Africa and the Americas

But it is rising in South East Asia and the Western Pacific regions



More than three million deaths worldwide in 2012 were due to harmful use of alcohol - and Europe is the region with the highest consumption of alcohol per person .



Alcohol consumption can not only lead to dependence, but also increases the risk of developing more than 200 diseases including liver cirrhosis and some cancers, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.



A report launched by the United Nations health agency found harmful use of alcohol - drinking that causes detrimental health and social consequences for the drinker, the people around the drinker and society at large - led to 3.3million deaths around the world in 2012.



A map showing the amount of alcohol consumed by each country, with Belarus, Moldova and Lithuania topping the table

The Global status report on alcohol and health in 2014 also found that harmful use of alcohol makes people more susceptible to infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and pneumonia.



The report provides country profiles for alcohol consumption in the 194 WHO member states, the impact on public health and policy responses.

Globally, Europe is the region with the highest consumption of alcohol per capita, with some of its countries having particularly high consumption rates, according to the WHO.



Trend analysis shows that the consumption level is stable over the last five years in the region, as well as in Africa and the Americas, though increases have been reported in the South East Asia and the Western Pacific regions.



Dr Oleg Chestnov, WHO assistant director-general for non-communicable diseases and mental health, said there is ‘no room for complacency’.

‘More needs to be done to protect populations from the negative health consequences of alcohol consumption.

‘The report clearly shows that there is no room for complacency when it comes to reducing the harmful use of alcohol,’ he said.

THE WORLD'S TOP TEN CONSUMERS OF ALCOHOL

In 2012 more than three million deaths worldwide were caused by alcohol The average amount of pure alcohol consumed per capita in each country between 2008 and 2010



1. Belarus – 17.5 litres 2. Republic of Moldova – 16.8 litres 3. Lithuania – 15.4 litres 4. Russian Federation – 15.1 litres 5. Romania – 14.4 litres 6. Ukraine – 13.9 litres 7. Andorra – 13.8 litres 8. Hungary – 13.3 litres 9. Czech Republic and Slovakia – 13 litres 10. Portugal – 12.9 litres

On average, every person in the world aged 15 or older drinks 6.2 litres of pure alcohol per year.

But as less than half the population - 38.3 per cent - actually drinks alcohol, this means that those who do drink consume on average 17 litres of pure alcohol annually, the WHO said.



The report also points out that a higher percentage of deaths among men than among women are from alcohol-related causes - 7.6 per cent of men's deaths and four per cent of women's deaths - though there is evidence that women may be more vulnerable to some alcohol-related health conditions compared to men.



The report's authors said there is concern over the steady increase in alcohol use among women.



Dr Shekhar Saxena, director for mental health and substance abuse at WHO, said: ‘We found that worldwide about 16 per cent of drinkers engage in heavy episodic drinking - often referred to as “binge-drinking” - which is the most harmful to health.

