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Nearly 1,000 Minnesotans will die from alcohol use by 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to play a factor in the increase in alcohol-related deaths.
This is according to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), which on Thursday released preliminary data on the preventable deaths due to alcohol use for last year.
MDH says that 992 people died from alcohol use in 2020 last year, and notes preliminary data suggest that factors related to the pandemic ‘a decades-long trend of increasing deaths attributable to alcohol, in Minnesota a could give a boost. ‘
“The deaths of so many Minnesotans due to alcohol are tragic and preventable,” said Jan Malcolm, Minnesota’s health commissioner. “Unfortunately, the pandemic has exacerbated some of the main causes of drug use and drug use disorders, such as social isolation, job loss and lack of access to treatment.
“In response, we need to strengthen overall opportunities in our communities for connectedness and financial security, as well as specific evidence-based community strategies to reduce excessive alcohol use.”
From 2000 to 2010, the number of deaths attributable to alcohol increased by one-third. And they more than doubled between 2010 and 2020.
Minnesota Department of Health
MDH says deaths due to alcohol use in 2020 reflect similar trends in recent years until June, when the number of alcohol-related deaths began to accelerate. The acceleration is thought to be due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In 2020, we saw that deaths related to alcohol continue to increase after May and that 171 more Minnesotans died in 2020 compared to 2019, which is a larger jump than the trend before the pandemic,” Kari Gloppen said , MDH alcohol epidemiologist, said. . “Studies show that excessive drinking affects your brain, heart, liver, digestive system and even your immune system. Alcohol is also a carcinogen that has been linked to different types of cancer.”
MDH
MDH says preliminary data underestimate the impact of alcohol use on deaths in Minnesota because it includes only deaths attributable to alcohol (only deaths that would not have occurred if alcohol were not involved) and not partially alcohol-attributable causes of does not include death. (when alcohol is one of the various factors that contribute to the death of someone).
These deaths are preventable, MDH says, noting that a task force has recommended several strategies to reduce excessive drinking. Among them: increase the price of alcohol; regulate the number and concentration of places in a community that sell alcohol; consistent application of laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol to minors; electrical screening and short intervention to reduce excessive alcohol use.