Experts call for action to tackle increased alcohol use during COVID-19 pandemic

Experts from the Hong Kong Alliance for Advocacy Against Alcohol (HKAAAA) are calling for action to be taken to reduce alcohol-related harm as recent reports show increased global alcohol consumption during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

In a recently published position statement, the HKAAAA highlighted suggestions for the health and social damages of alcohol consumption to be fully recognized and effectively dealt with at global, national and health system levels. At the government level, the HKAAAA calls for action to be taken to reduce the affordability and physical availability of alcohol, and restrict all forms of alcohol advertising, as the most cost-effective means to protect vulnerable groups from alcohol-related harm. [Hong Kong Med J 2021;27:4-6]

In Hong Kong, a population-based survey of 1,501 Chinese adults, conducted in April 2020, showed that 5.5 percent of alcohol users had increased their alcohol consumption since the COVID-19 outbreak despite mandatory closure of bars and pubs that coincided with the study period. [Tob Control 2020, doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2020-055960]

“Exposure to misinformation on social media and longer home isolation were significantly associated with self-reported increase in alcohol consumption,” said Dr Regina Ching, Honorary Secretary of HKAAAA.

In the study, current alcohol users who had been exposed to misinformation on social media about the “protective effect” of alcohol drinking against COVID-19 were significantly more likely to have increased their alcohol consumption (odds ratio, 4.16; 95 percent confidence interval, 2.00 to 8.67), after adjustment for sex, age, education level, alcohol use status, home isolation, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and survey method (ie, by landline or mobile phone).

“Higher rates of exposure to misinformation were observed among men and younger respondents with higher education level,” noted Ching. “Action needs to be taken to protect vulnerable groups from the misinformation about alcohol widely circulating on social media.”

Similarly, a global survey of >55,000 individuals in 11 countries (Australia, Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, UK, US), conducted between May and June 2020, showed an increase in alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Forty-three percent of drinkers reported an increase in drinking frequency, 36 percent reported an increase in drinking amount, and 23 percent reported an increase in binge drinking frequency,” said Professor Martin Wong of HKAAAA, who is from the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, Chinese University of Hong Kong. [Department of Health, Non-Communicable Diseases Watch, December 2020: https://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/ncd_watch_december_2020.pdf]

Another study in 1,540 adults in the US reported a 14 percent increase in alcohol consumption between 28 May and 9 June 2020, compared with the baseline period of 29 April to 9 June 2019. For women, there was a 41 percent increase in heavy drinking and a 39 percent increase in alcohol-related problems compared with the baseline period in 2019. [JAMA Netw Open 2020, doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.22942]

“Alcohol causes both short-term and long-term harm to almost every single organ of the body. The term ‘harmful use of alcohol’ implies that there are beneficial uses of alcohol, which practically do not exist,” commented Professor Tai-Hing Lam of HKAAAA, who is from the School of Public Health, University of Hong Kong.