There are wide variations
in the strengths of alcoholic beverages
and the drink sizes commonly used in
different countries. A WHO survey45 indicated
that beer contained between 2%
and 5% volume by volume of pure alcohol,
wines contained 10.5% to 18.9%, spirits
varied from 24.3% to 90%, and cider from
1.1% to 17%. Therefore, it is essential to
adapt drinking sizes to what is most common
at the local level and to know roughly
how much pure alcohol the person consumes
per occasion and on average.