title: Alcohol consumption and burden of disease in the Americas in 2012: implications for alcohol policy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the volume and patterns of alcohol consumption up to and including 2012, and to estimate the burden of disease attributable to alcohol consumption as measured in deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost in the Americas in 2012.
  
  
  METHODS
  Measures of alcohol consumption were obtained from the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Information System on Alcohol and Health (GISAH). The burden of alcohol consumption was estimated in both deaths and DALYs lost based on mortality data obtained from WHO, using alcohol-attributable fractions. Regional groupings for the Americas were based on the WHO classifications for 2004 (according to child and adult mortality).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Regional variations were observed in the overall volume of alcohol consumed, the proportion of the alcohol market attributable to unrecorded alcohol consumption, drinking patterns, prevalence of drinking, and prevalence of heavy episodic drinking, with inhabitants of the Americas consuming more alcohol (8.4 L of pure alcohol per adult in 2012) compared to the world average. The Americas also experienced a high burden of disease attributable to alcohol consumption (4.7% of all deaths and 6.7% of all DALYs lost), especially in terms of injuries attributable to alcohol consumption.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Alcohol is consumed in a harmful manner in the Americas, leading to a high burden of disease, especially in terms of injuries. New cost-effective alcohol policies, such as increasing alcohol taxation, increasing the minimum legal age to purchase alcohol, and decreasing the maximum legal blood alcohol content while driving, should be implemented to decrease the harmful consumption of alcohol and the resulting burden of disease.
authors.affiliation: Social and Epidemiological Research Department, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Kevin.david.shield@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kevin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Shield
authors.affiliation: Pan American Health Organization, Washington, DC, United States of America.
authors.forename: Maristela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monteiro
authors.affiliation: Social and Epidemiological Research Department, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Kevin.david.shield@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roerecke
authors.affiliation: Pan American Health Organization, Washington, DC, United States of America.
authors.forename: Blake
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Social and Epidemiological Research Department, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Kevin.david.shield@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rehm
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000438:Alcohols; D000569:Americas; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years
chemical_list: D000438:Alcohols