A new report which provides a snapshot of the scale of alcohol-related harm in WA electorates will be sent to election candidates to help them form evidence-based policies aimed at tackling the issue.
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The report − produced by Curtin University researchers at the McCusker Centre for Action on Alcohol and Youth and the National Drug Research Institute, in association with the WA Alcohol and Youth Action Coalition − provides estimates of alcohol-related harms at the WA electoral district level.
McCusker Centre executive officer and Curtin Research fellow Ms Julia Stafford said alcohol was involved in an extraordinarily wide range of immediate and longer term health and social problems and affected every corner of WA.
Based on the information in the report, the researchers estimated that there was an average of 126 deaths attributable to alcohol each year between 2010 and 2012 in the Vasse electorate.
The data showed there was 379 deaths in the Vasse electorate from 2010 to 2012 and 132 alcohol-related serious assaults from 2010 to 2013.
In other South West electorates there was 317 alcohol-related deaths in the Warren-Blackwood electorate and 89 alcohol-related serious assaults for the same period.
The Bunbury electorate showed 447 alcohol-related deaths and 240 alcohol-related serious assaults.
In Collie-Preston the data showed there were 366 alcohol-related deaths and 155 alcohol-related serious assaults.
These deaths related to a wide range of conditions that were partially or wholly caused by alcohol, including liver cancer, breast cancer, stroke, heart disease, road crashes, assault and alcohol dependence.
Ms Stafford said alcohol played a role in a massive range of health and social problems but harm from alcohol was preventable.
“These deaths are a big concern because to a large extent they could be prevented,” she said.
Expert guidelines from the National Health and Medical Research Council outline low risk drinking levels to help people make informed decisions about their drinking.
“Anyone that regularly drinks more than two standard drinks per day is at higher risk of longer term health conditions,” she said.
“Drinking no more than four standard drinks on a single occasion reduces the risk of alcohol-related injury or other immediate harms.
“Reducing your drinking will reduce your risks.”
Ms Staffard said preventable harms placed major burdens on health services and police.
She said the information from the research was shared with WA election candidates because they need to be aware of the issues affecting their communities and she hoped the new WA Parliament would support effective policies to reduce the level of harm.
The WA Alcohol and Youth Action Coalition sent key asks to all parties requesting that young people’s exposure to alcohol promotion was reduced.
That there was continued support for alcohol education programs, fair liquor licencing processes and measures to stop alcohol from being sold at unreasonably low prices.