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Download AudioThe co-author of a new report on alcohol harm says action is long overdue.
Co-author Anja Mizdrak from the University of Otago in Wellington says in 2018, the latest year for which there is sufficient data, alcohol was linked to 901 deaths, 1250 cancers, 29,282 hospitalisations, and 128,963 ACC claims.
Maori and their whānau were disproportionately affected., accounting for at least one in five overall deaths, one in eight cancer-related deaths, 17 percent of hospitalisations and 12 percent of ACC claims.
Solutions have been recommended for decades.
“This comes down to things like restricting alcohol marketing, and reducing the availability… increasing the price of alcohol, and making sure that those at highest risk, that there’s interventions for them too,” Dr Mizdrak says.
The Government needs to urgently review the alcohol industry to look at not only existing practices but emerging threats such as online ordering and delivery of alcohol.
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