OdishaPlus Bureau
‘High’ Time For Govts To Ponder Over their excise policies
Beware Boozers! Don’t go for a ‘kick’. Alcohol is the ‘kick’ off factor behind a massive 200 diseases. A ‘high’ of 2.6 lakh lives in India fall victim to alcohol addiction.
Such scary stats were revealed by Dr. N.N. Raju, President of the Indian Psychiatrists’ Association, while delivering a lecture at an event at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital here recently.
He further highlighted that alcohol intake is reason behind around three million deaths or 5.3 percent of annual mortalities every year globally.
Batting for urgent measures to curb drinking habits, Dr Raju said, “Death of 7.7 per cent of men, 2.6 per cent of women worldwide was linked to alcohol, the proportion climbs to 13.5 per cent of total deaths in age group 20-39.”
Speaking on the topic ‘Prevention Strategies in Alcohol Use Disorders: Overcoming Challenges in the Current Scenario’ at a National Continuing Medical Education (CME) program, jointly organised by the Department of Psychiatry of IMS and SUM Hospital and Indian Psychiatry Society, Dr Raju said alcoholism was an illness characterized by preoccupation with alcohol and loss of control over its consumption.
Reflecting on the production of this liquid intoxicant, Dr. Raju said India accounted for 65 per cent of the alcohol production in the world, a substance which was linked to many psychiatric disorders like depression, anxiety, psychosis and acute stress disorder that often led to suicide.
“Alcoholic intoxication is linked to 22 per cent of all suicide deaths, when 20 per cent of all non-traffic injury deaths are suicides,” he informed and further added that it is responsible for 38,000 traffic accidents in India during the last three years.
Most alcohol related deaths occurred through alcohol poisoning, accidents, homicides, suicides, unintentional injuries and illnesses like liver failure, cancer or heart disease, Dr. Raju outlined.
He said those addicted to alcohol continue drinking despite being aware about the physical and psychological problems they would encounter, if they didn’t kick the habit. Addiction led to the person getting detached from important social, occupational or recreational activities, he warned.
“Govt administration has to ensure that alcohol’s negative impact on health and social life was curbed. But most government policies were formulated with an eye on more excise taxes, without addressing the public health aspect,” he lamented..
Four states, Gujarat, Bihar, Nagaland and Manipur besides Lakshadweep had imposed either total or partial prohibition but for lack of a national policy, conflicts between centre and states and absence of a rational and scientific alcohol control policy on the nuances of public health proving stumbling blocks to a possible solution, he rued.
“The governments could reduce the number of retail outlets, introduce a government controlled wholesale and retail system, restrict the time of sale or increase the price of alcohol by imposing high taxes to discourage addiction.,” Dr Raju suggested.
Prof. Ashok Kumar Mahapatra, SOA Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Sanghamitra Mishra, Dean of IMS and SUM Hospital, Prof. Pusparaj Samantasinhar, Medical Superintendent, Dr. Arabinda Brahma, Secretary of IPS, Dr. Pranab Mohapatra and Dr. Ashrumochan Sahoo, President and General Secretary respectively of Odisha state branch of IPS, also addressed the program.
Prof. Surjeet Sahoo, Head of the Department of Psychiatry at IMS and SUM Hospital and Organising chairman of the CME and Prof. S.N.Mishra, Joint Organising chairman, also spoke.
Tags: #IndianPsychiatristsAssociation #SOA #AlcoholDisorders #departmentofPsychiatry #publichealth