Alcohol is festive, it is joyful, it unites… We offer it at Christmas, we bring it to meals with friends, family. Do we need a “pick-up”? We pour ourselves a drink. Do we have something to celebrate? A marriage, a contract, a birth… It’s champagne! In France, alcohol is so commonplace thatwe drink it at the same time as we wish each other “Happy New Year, but above all good health!“December 31 at midnight… So Santé Publique France launches a campaign to remind people that this does not make sense. No, alcohol and health do not go together.
In short, we drink too much. In 2017, 87% of people aged 18 to 75 said they had drunk alcohol in the last twelve months and 40% at least once a week. Three years later, in 2020, 24% of 18-75 year olds exceeded the benchmarks for safer drinking: 2 glasses maximum per day, not every day. But Public Health France reminds us: as soon as we drink it, whatever the dose and the regularity (even without mentioning alcohol dependence), we reach our health.
Remember the obvious: alcohol is bad for your health
“41,000 deaths each year are attributable to alcohol. Its consumption, even at low doses, increases the risk of cancer, hemorrhagic cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) and heart rhythm disorders, which makes it a major public health concern.
So, from January 9 to 31, a campaign entitled “Good health has nothing to do with alcohol” will appear, to remind people of the risks and provide tools for those who need help, in particular the website alcohol-info-service.fr
Source: Alcohol and “Good health”, a paradoxical association denounced in the new campaign of Public Health France, Public Health France, January 8, 2022.
