Moldova joins world community in marking No Alcohol Day Oct. 2

On October 2 Moldova will join the world community in marking the No Alcohol Day which this year is themed “Alcohol – Less is Better!”. The event aims to raise awareness of the harm of abusive alcohol consumption, Info-Prim Neo learned from a press release of the Moldovan Ministry of Health. The harmful use of alcohol is a social problem whose solution requires and inter-sectoral approach with the participation of all members of society, reads the press release. To this end, the Ministry of Health has developed a National Program to reduce alcohol consumption in Moldova covering the time-frame 2012-2020. In Moldova, alcohol consumption is one of the main public health and demographic security challenges. Our country is among the nations with the highest alcohol consumption per person in the world. The World Health Organization's 2011 Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health showed that an average Moldovan aged 15 or older annually drinks the equivalent of 18.2 liters of pure alcohol, as compared to 2005 when this index was 13.2 liters. The safe daily limit for alcohol consumption is 20 ml for men and 10 ml for women. According to the WHO, the harmful use of alcohol results in 2.5 million deaths each year, including 320,000 deaths among the those aged 15-29 years. Alcohol is associated with many serious social and developmental issues, including violence, child neglect and abuse, and absenteeism in the workplace. It also causes harm far beyond the physical and psychological health of the drinker. It harms the well-being and health of people around the drinker.