Alcohol kills nearly three million people annually, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday, adding that while the death rate had dropped slightly in recent years, it remained “unacceptably high”.
The United Nations Health Agency’s latest report on alcohol and health said alcohol causes nearly one in 20 deaths globally each year through drunk driving, alcohol-induced violence and abuse and a multitude of diseases and disorders.
The report said 2.6 million deaths were attributed to alcohol consumption in 2019 — the latest available statistics — accounting for 4.7 per cent of all deaths worldwide that year. Nearly three-quarters of those deaths were in men, it said.
“Substance use severely harms individual health, increasing the risk of chronic diseases, mental health conditions, and tragically resulting in millions of preventable deaths every year,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. He pointed out that there had been “some reduction in alcohol consumption and related harm worldwide since 2010”.
“[But] the health and social burden due to alcohol use remains unacceptably high,” he continued, highlighting that younger people were disproportionately affected.
The highest proportion of alcohol-attributable deaths in 2019 — 13pc — were among people aged 20 to 39, the WHO said.
Drinking is linked to a slew of health conditions, including cirrhosis of the liver and some cancers. Of all the fatalities it caused in 2019, the report found that an estimated 1.6 million were from noncommunicable diseases.
Of these, 474,000 were from cardiovascular diseases, 401,000 from cancer and a huge 724,000 from injuries, including traffic accidents and self-harm.
Saudi Arabia has taken a major step with the opening of an alcohol store catering to diplomats – breaking of a 70-year-long national ban on alcohol.
BBC spoke to Kristian Ulrichsen, who explores economic trends in the Middle East and works for Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy in Texas, in the U.S.
“Key elements of Vision 2030 are tourism, entertainment, and hospitality. And Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince, has set very ambitious targets of attracting more than 100 million visits a year by 2030.” he says.
Ulrichsen points at the necessity of societal shifts to accommodate the influx of visitors and residents essential for the success of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious development projects.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia is in competition with Dubai, which is why this latest move mirrors similar actions taken by UAE to maintain an advantage in the region.
“The Saudi move is very controlled,” Ulrichsen adds.
Starting with controlled enclaves before possibly expanding access to alcohol in designated areas or larger projects over time, he explains.
While access in larger society remains limited for now, future developments, such as the planned mid-2020s offshore island projects in the Red Sea, may see increased availability as public acceptance grows.
Four people have been killed and 40 hospitalised after consuming tainted alcohol in southern Tunisia, an official said.
An inquiry has been opened and the person who supplied the alcohol has been arrested, Fethi Baccouche, a spokesman for the Medenine court, told AFP.
An analysis of the alcohol is underway to determine what was behind the mass poisoning.
Of the 40 surviving victims, most left hospital but some were transferred to the capital Tunis for treatment, Baccouche said, without providing exact numbers.
Poisonings from incorrectly produced or adulterated alcohol are common in Tunisia and often fatal.
In 2021, Tunisian health authorities announced five deaths and the hospitalisation of 25 more in Kasserine in the country’s west after they drank contaminated alcohol.
And in May 2020, 39 people were poisoned, including six who died, after drinking methanol near the city of Kairouan.
The consumption of home-made alcohol is common in some working-class neighbourhoods of Tunis and remote regions of the country where poverty rates are high.
The alcohol, which is illegal, is often much cheaper than that sold in shops.
Yesterday, in Rajsthan’s Ajmer in India, a man, Mukesh, had reportedly murdered his father while he was drunk, during an argument that escalated over property division. According to the mother, the heated conversation began earlier in the day but had seemingly settled which is when she chose to depart the house. However, India Today reports that when the mother returned, she found her dead husband’s body and immediately reported to the police.
Baldev Ram, in charge of the Ansagar Police Station, revealed to the media that the authorities had taken swift action to arrest Mukesh, and were keeping him under custody as the investigation continues. The body of the deceased has been sent for a post-mortem examination.
Bollywood Superstar Aamir Khan needs no introduction as his decades-long career is enough for it. He has credited several super hit movies in his name. Some of them are PK, Dangal, Lagaan, Ghajini, Dhoom 3 and Dil Chahta Hai.
According to Bollywood Hungama, Aamir is currently in a state of shock and stress, considering the massive failure of Laal Singh Chaddha. The film has collected less than 50 crore at the box office despite being a festive release.
“Aamir had worked really hard to make the best version of Forrest Gump possible. The rejection has hit him very hard,” says a close friend of Aamir and his former wife Kiran Rao.
The immediate aftermath of this colossal setback may get monetary compensation for film distributors across the country who have lost heavily on Laal Singh Chaddha.
Apparently Aamir, as co-producer, has taken responsibility for the film’s failure and is working at partially compensating for the heavy losses incurred by distributors.
Earlier this month trade Analyst Ali Zain shared on his Twitter handle that Khan has submitted his big-budget film, Laal Singh Chadda for NOC in Pakistan.
Although Indian films are currently banned in Pakistan, this could have initiated a new wave of Bollywood mania in Pakistani cinema houses.
On the recent boycott Twitter trend for his film, the Rang De Basanti star said, “Yes, I feel sad. Also, I feel sad that some of the people who are saying this, in their hearts, believe that I am someone who doesn’t like India. In their hearts, they believe, but it is untrue. It is rather unfortunate that some people feel that way. That’s not the case. Please don’t boycott my film. Please watch my film.”
In 2015, Aamir came under fire for his comments about ‘intolerant India’. “When I chat with Kiran at home, she says ‘Should we move out of India?’ That’s a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make. She fears for her child. She fears what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every day,” he had said.
“I never said India was intolerant or I wanted to leave the country. I also understand the emotions of those who were hurt. I would like to say that my statement was misunderstood and to some extent, the media is responsible for it. I was born here and I will die here,” Aamir had later responded.
The hashtag #BoycottLaalSinghChaddha has close to 70,000 tweets and people have been actively trolling the lead actors. From Kareena’s statement on nepotism and asking people to not watch her films if they don’t want to in an old video to Aamir’s controversial scenes “against Hinduism” in his films to asking for justice for late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, there are many reasons being pointed out by social media users.
Earlier in an interview with News18, the actor opened on why he gave up alcohol. In the interview, he said that he used to down the entire bottle but later felt it was not okay.
While speaking to the news portal, the Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak actor said, “I used to drink sometimes, but I don’t anymore. Some people take two pegs and they are sorted. But I was never one of those who drank regularly. I used to drink on occasions, but whenever I did sit down to drink, I would down the entire bottle. And I felt that that was not okay.”
He further added that nothing major had happened with him in the state of intoxication that he would regret later. “The fact that a person is no longer under their own control, that didn’t sit well with me,” concluded the Dhoom 3 hero.
Aamir consumed a bottle of vodka to shoot for the song ‘Tere Ishq Mein Nachenge’ in the 1996 film ‘Raja Hindustani’.
During a raid on the outskirts of Karachi on Thursday, Pakistan Customs personnel recovered a massive quantity of imported liquor worth millions of rupees.
According to a Customs spokesman, monitoring was increased at the Moachko checkpoint after the Customs Enforcement Collectorate got information that alcohol was being smuggled to Karachi from Quetta under the cover of official vehicles.
When a car with a government license plate and an armed guard was sighted at the checkpoint, customs anti-smuggling personnel signaled the driver to pull up, but the driver instead sped away.
When the officials gave chase, the driver of the car purposefully began hitting customs vehicles, and the guard resorted to firing. Because the road was packed and there was a threat to public safety, customs officers refrained from firing fire.
According to a spokesman, when they were around Shershah Chowk, the driver and guard hopped out of the vehicle and fled, taking advantage of a traffic jam on the other side of the road. During a check of the vehicle, 348 liquor bottles worth Rs6,480,000 were seized, along with other items discovered.
A video of Actor Feroze Khan had been doing the rounds on social media in which the Khaani star can be seen sipping a covered bottle.
However, after the video went crazy viral, Mathira took to her Instagram and called out those who made Khan’s video without his consent. “Stop making videos of celebs. Everyone has a personal life,” she wrote.
“I’ve known Feroze first of all, he ain’t a hypocrite. He was religious before and now he is more dedicated towards Islam and second of all he does not drink. This is totally messed up.”
The controversial TV star further questioned why are celebrities often subjected to criticism and blamed for ‘bad stuff’.
The Pakistani-Zimbabwean model went on to call out the video maker and added, “to be honest whoever made this video needs to learn that law can give you a good dandaa for this harqat. Let Pakistani celebrities live happy life.”
“We ain’t public property. You guys need to learn that you don’t know everything about everyone. Stop this nonsense,” she concluded.
Earlier Feroze was trolled for his viral smoking pictures. He mentioned in an interview that his elder brother scolded him when he caught him smoking for the first time.
Netizens are divided perplexed after the video went viral. Some criticized the Chup Raho hero for consuming alcohol despite being a Muslim while others say that the brown wrap on the bottle is being used to promote a marketing brand.
First Lady of Pakistan, Bushra Bibi’s younger son, Muhammad Musa Maneka was registered for possessing illegal alcohol in a car. Police also booked his cousin, Mohammad Ahmad Maneka, and a friend Ahmad Shaharyar.
According to the First Investigation Report (FIR), the Ghalib Market police found alcohol in their car on Monday. The car crossed a police picket on Zahoor Elahi Road. Police arrested the three of them when alcohol was found in their car.
They recovered the alcohol bottle “Moon Original Whisky” and beer cans which were wrapped in a brown paper bag.
Police registered a case against them under sections 3, 4, and 11 of The Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd Order, 1979).
After a medical examination, Shaharyar was found drunk while Musa and Ahmad had not consumed alcohol. They were released on a personal guarantee from a relative.
The judicial magistrate granted bail to their friend Shaharyar.
Minal Khan’s father-in-law Mohsin Ikram has responded to a troll on his Instagram handle. The netizen commented that the Pyar Ke Sadqay actor’s father looks drunk in the wedding pictures of the Parchayee duo.
After pictures of an alcohol brand named ‘Ginnah’ went viral on social media, the Indian media outlets, mostly, have started reporting that the bottle was named after the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
According to the photos whose veracity is unconfirmed as of now — except that it has garnered many reactions on Twitter — it is a drink “enriched with the essence of randomly selected fresh herb, whole spice and dried fruits”.
Also, the back label of the bottle reads: “Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the founder of Pakistan that came into being in August 1947 as a secular state. Decades later, the country was pushed over the cliff by a military dictator [Gen Ziaul Haq] aided by supporters in Washington D.C.”
It went on to say Jinnah, more commonly known as ‘The Great Leader’, would never have approved of the country Gen Zia turned Pakistan to for the designs of the “clergy”. It also referred to Jinnah’s rather exquisite lifestyle, saying he indulged in gin and whiskey throughout his life.
“In memory of the man of pleasure who he was: ‘Ginnah’,” the bottom of the label reads.
A Twitter user posted photos of the gin named ‘Ginnah’ after the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam.
The alcohol in Pakistan was criminalised by PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who came to power in 1970s, to appease the religious lobby. Before that, it was readily available in the big cities of Pakistan. Following Bhutto, Gen Zia made Islamic laws stringent and Pakistan starting moving away from the idea of a modern Muslim state.
