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This chart is shown for the global total, but can be explored for any country or region using the “change country” toggle. 8 These estimates of the annual number of deaths attributed to a wide range of risk factors are shown here. The Global Burden of Disease is a major global study on the causes and risk factors for death and disease published in the medical journal The Lancet. What we see from this breakdown is that the majority of these deaths are indirect: they result from more than smoking increasing the risk of lung and various other cancers, heart disease, stroke and diabetes and alcohol and illicit drugs increasing the risk of suicide, hepatitis and liver diseases. Overall, premature deaths from substance use greatly outnumber direct deaths from overdoses.ġ1.8 million deaths are attributed to substance use each year – we look at the this breakdown between direct deaths (from drug overdoses) and indirect deaths from increased risk of various diseases and injury here. We see that premature deaths from smoking is the large contributor to this. Globally, substance use was responsible for 11.8 million deaths in 2017. In the visualization we summarize the results of the Global Burden of Disease study on the number of deaths attributed to substance use: this is differentiated between indirect deaths as a risk factor from smoking, alcohol and illicit drug use (shown in blue) and direct deaths from substance use disorders of alcohol and illicit drugs (in red). Smoking is a key risk factor for lung and other forms of cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes. 6 Alcohol and illicit drug use, for example, increases the risk of premature death from diseases and injury, including suicide, liver disease, hepatitis, and HIV. The second pathway is indirect: drug use can increase the risk of premature from a range of causes. 4 Alcohol dependence or illicit drug dependence (which includes opioids, cocaine, amphetamines and cannabis) are included in substance use disorders deaths from these disorders can be considered drug overdoses, with the terms being used interchangeably in the study literature. A substance use disorder is characterized by meeting the criteria for drug dependence as defined by the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). The first is a direct death from a ‘substance use disorder’. The Global Burden of Disease study identifies and provides estimates for substance use deaths through both pathways. drug overdoses) or also the increased risk of premature death from moderate, long-term drug use? drugs do we include in this definition and (2) what do we mean by a death caused by substance use – does this include only direct deaths (i.e. To answer this, we need to define two aspects: (1) what substances i.e. How many people die from substance use each year? How much do people smoke across the world? What are the health implications? Smoking – Tobacco smoking is not considered to be a substance use disorder, but does have a large death toll in terms of indirect deaths from other diseases. How common is drug addiction across the world? Where has overdoses become more common? They include opioids, cocaine, amphetamines and cannabis. Illicit drug use – Illicit drugs are those that have been prohibited under international drug control treaties. 1.5% of global disease burden results from alcohol and illicit drug addiction in some countries it’s over 5%.Īlcohol consumption – How has alcohol consumption changed over time? What are the health impacts?.More than half of those who die from alcohol or drug overdoses are younger than 50.Substance use disorders are much more common in men.Over 350,000 die from overdoses (alcohol and illicit drug use disorders) each year.Smoking, alcohol and drug use is an important risk factor for early death: 11.4 million die prematurely as a result each year.Drug use is directly and indirectly responsible for 11.8 million deaths each year.