Indians getting first taste of booze in their teens

Alcohol consumption in India has increased by a worrying 55% over the past two decades between 1992 and 2012. India's per capita consumption is the 3rd highest in the world after the Russian Federation and Estonia, a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has revealed.

Another worrying trend in India is that the average age of alcohol consumption is gone from 28 years in the year 1980s to 17years in 2007. In contrast, the average manual alcholo consumption among the 34 memebr countries of the OECD has fallen by 2.5 % over the same period. The OECD report examines the economic and public health imoact of alcohol use, the fifth Leading Cause Of Death and disability world wide.

In India, alcohol abuse results in huge annual losses because of alcohol related problems at workspaces. Also, nearly 25% of road accidents are caused by those who consume alcohol and drive. More than 2 in 3 children have drunk alcohol by age of 15 and Girls have caught up with boys in the past 10 years.

Experrs said that alcohol abuse was a contributing factor in more than 60 major types of diseases majorily including several types of cancer, haemorrhagic stroke and hypertensive heart disease and liver cirrhosis.

The rapid rise in alcohol consumption is an alarming statistic for public health. So far, alcohol has not been considered a public health problem and no alcohol control policies are in place from the public health point of view.