EQUITY
Surveys and mortality studies, particularly from
the developed world, suggest that there are
more drinkers, more drinking occasions and
more drinkers with low-risk drinking patterns in
higher socioeconomic groups, while abstainers
are more common in the poorest social groups.
However, people with lower socioeconomic status
may be more vulnerable to the tangible problems
and consequences of alcohol consumption,
as well as of drug use, due to differential
exposure to multiple risk factors, differential
psychosocial support and barriers in access to
quality health care.5
DATA GAPS
Data on alcohol consumption, health
consequences and policy responses are regularly
collected and recorded, though the estimation
of unrecorded alcohol consumption continues to
present challenges for many countries. Improving
data on patterns of drug use and their health
consequences and on treatment coverage for
substance-use disorders will require intensified
international collaboration and the strengthening
of national monitoring systems in many countries.