Alcohol abuse costs €155bn to Europe yearly

The social cost of alcohol in the EU is estimated at 155 billion euro per year, 1 in 4 of male deaths between 15-29 years, and 1 in 4 of all road traffic deaths are caused by alcohol in the EU. These figures were released Tuesday by the Brussels-based EUROCARE, an alliance of non-governmental and public health organisations with around 50 member organisations across 23 European countries advocating the prevention and reduction of alcohol related harm in Europe. Eurocare in a press release today warmly welcomed the proposed Action Plan to reduce the alcohol related harm in Europe by the European Commission. "We expect a comprehensive Action Plan building on the guidance given by World Health Organisation Europe 2012-2020, with specific targeted actions that are regularly monitored," said Mariann Skar, Eurocare Secretary General. The current European Alcohol Strategy will be supported by an Action Plan for the period 2014-2017. The action plan should focus on the population level approach to reduce total alcohol consumption, she said