Objective: The purpose of this study was to estimate the alcohol-attributable disease burden in the Americas in 2000 and 2016.
Method: The alcohol-attributable disease burden was estimated using a comparative risk assessment approach. Alcohol exposure and relative risk estimates were obtained from systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Burden of disease estimates were obtained from the World Health Organization's Global Health Estimates.
Results: In 2016, 372,000 deaths and 18.9 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost were because of alcohol use in the Americas. The age-standardized rates (ASRs) of alcohol-attributable deaths ranged from 16.2 to 54.3 deaths per 100,000 in Jamaica and Guyana, respectively. From 2000 to 2016, ASRs decreased by 12.8% for alcohol-attributable deaths and decreased by 10.8% for alcohol-attributable DALYs lost. The decreases in ASRs for alcohol-attributable deaths and alcohol-attributable DALYs lost were less than the relative decreases in the ASRs for all deaths (18.7%) and all DALYs lost (15.7%). ASRs for alcohol-attributable deaths increased in eight countries.
Conclusions: Alcohol continues to be a leading risk factor for the burden of disease in the Americas, with the degree and composition of this burden varying between countries. Despite a general reduction across the region, in many countries the rising alcohol-attributable disease burden constitutes a major public health challenge.