Expert: Prevention is missing in the fight against addiction

The Czech Republic still lacks sufficient prevention in the fight against alcohol. This is evident from a recent survey conducted by the State Institute of Health (SZU). Only 52% of respondents said that their doctor had asked them about drinking alcohol. In the case of respondents who showed signs of harmful drinking, the doctor asked about drinking in two-thirds of the cases and recommended limiting drinking in only 29% of them. This state of affairs is striking, according to Albert Kšiňan, an expert from the SYRI National Institute and Masaryk University.

The Czech Republic is among the world's leading countries in alcohol consumption, with 6.9 litres per capita recorded last year. More than 8 percent of Czechs admit to risky drinking, one in ten among men. Experts estimate that one million people in the Czech Republic have an alcohol problem.

Men consume more alcohol than women. "These differences are also found in other substances, such as tobacco and drugs," Kšiňan said. Experts define several categories of drinkers. Moderate drinking is defined as having less than two alcoholic drinks a day for men and one drink for women, risky drinking is up to three drinks for men and two for women, and drinking more alcohol is considered harmful.

According to SZU data, risky drinking was reported by 6.5 percent of men and 10 percent of women, and harmful drinking by 8.7 percent of men and 4 percent of women. Increased alcohol consumption was most common among people aged 45 to 64. "There are more than 16 percent of respondents in this age group who show signs of risky or harmful drinking," Kšiňan said.

In the case of respondents who showed signs of harmful drinking, two-thirds said their physicians asked about drinking and 29 percent said their physicians recommended restrictions.

According to SYRI's survey, some children experience alcohol at less than two years of age, 18 percent have some form of experience as three-year-olds and 23 percent at five.

There are about 3 percent of lifelong teetotallers in the Czech Republic, with about a quarter of them citing lifestyle and one-sixth citing health as their reasons for not drinking alcohol. As many as 2.6 percent of respondents in the SZU survey said last year they were abstaining from alcohol. The rate of reported abstinence in the population was higher in the COVID-19 years, then declined, but is still higher than in the pre-COVID years. The most frequent abstainers are people over 65 and those in the 15 to 24 years category.