Global health. The current scenario and future perspectives

207 among men and 44.3% among women), and the prevalence of binge drinking reached 23.4% of the total population (38.1% among men and 9.4% among women), which is equivalent to 41.2% of current drinkers. Finally, people with alcohol use disorders represent 9.2% of the general population aged 15 and older, 16.2% of current drinkers and 39.4% of binge drinkers. The above indicators show significant variability between countries within the region: higher values were found in the United States, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina and Canada and lower values in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. The Report on Drug Use in the Americas (2019) by CICAD/OAS presents indicators on alcohol use among school-aged populations (typically aged 13- 17 years old). Past-month prevalence use exceeds 30% in several countries (e.g., Argentina, Colombia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Saint Lucia). However, the most striking, and alarming, aspect is high consumption among eighth-grade students (approximately 13 years old), where the past-month prevalence of alcohol use exceeds 25% in six countries in the region that have available information. This value rapidly increases towards higher grades, reaching levels above 50% in twelfth grade in several countries within the region. Another element identified by the report is the virtually null difference in the past-month prevalence of alcohol consumption between men and women. It also provides an overview of harmful alcohol use among school-aged populations (an even more concerning issue), concluding that “in 16 out of 20 countries with this indicator, a least one out of two students who drank alcohol in the past month reported harmful consumption”, again without differences between men and women. The preceding paragraphs gave a general and quite summarized overview regarding some indicators that measure the magnitude of alcohol use. Next we will analyze some consequences associated with use, particularly mortality and Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs ) 20 . According to the WHO report referenced above, for the year 2016, globally, harmful alcohol use of alcohol is estimated to have accounted for approximately 3 million deaths (2.3 million among men and 0.7 million among women), which represents 5.3% of all deaths and nearly 133 million DALYs (5.1% of the total). Mortality as a consequence of alcohol use is higher than that caused by diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and diabetes. The report also states that younger populations are disproportionately affected by alcohol use compared to older individuals, where 13.5% of deaths in people aged between 20 and 39 years old is attributable to alcohol use. 20 Years of life lost due to premature death plus years lost due to disability due to alcohol use.