The Effect of Alcohol Consumption on Demographics, Population Health and Social Wellbeing in Poland

Abstract Alcohol consumption in Poland has almost doubled between 2002 and 2018 from 6.5 to 11.7 litres of alcohol per adult inhabitant. Such rises have resulted in an epidemic of alcohol-related diseases which have thereby become one of the main factors affecting average life expectancy; this actually rose during 2013–2017 but then fell in 2018. A study undertaken on 52 OECD countries, (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), projected a 1.6 year decrease in life expectancy in Poland due to alcohol-related disease and injury by 2050. Health-related alcohol abuse is influenced by alcohol’s widespread availability and relatively low price, and the ineffectual enforcement of legal regulations for the sale of alcohol to minors. An increased availability of alcohol also fuels demand for alcoholic beverages, which in turn increases the risk of numerous injuries, accidents, aggressive behaviour, domestic violence and criminal or suicidal tendencies. An increased burden is now being placed on the state health care system due to the absence of an appropriate national policy regarding the harmful effects of drinking alcohol. Such policies should therefore be re-targeted on decreasing the availability of alcohol in order reduce harmful drinking behaviour that adversely and directly impact on health and society.