The Alcohol Indicators Report for Nova Scotia provides a framework for a
provincial monitoring system comprised of alcohol indicators that are direct
and/or proxy measures of alcohol use and related harms. A major goal in
the dissemination of the alcohol indicators report is to inform key
stakeholders, at the provincial, regional, municipal, and community levels,
of the significant health, economic, and social costs of alcohol-related
harms in Nova Scotia and the pressing need to recognize this issue as a
priority for action. The report is intended to provide current information to
decision-makers in the health, enforcement, education, and alcohol
industry sectors, to help target future policies and programs that effectively
prevent and/or reduce the harms and consequences associated with
alcohol use. The report focuses on the adverse harms of medium to highrisk
drinking rather than any potential beneficial effects of low-risk drinking.
The report is framed around the World Health Organization’s (WHO)
recommendations for alcohol indicators best practices. It includes a
brief look at the status of alcohol use in Canada and a comprehensive
synopsis of alcohol use in Nova Scotia, largely based on findings from a
number of prevalence studies. Using the most recent data sources
available, this report includes: estimates for per capita consumption
among Nova Scotians aged 15 years and older; patterns of use (never
used, former, and current users), high-risk drinking, non-compliance with
low-risk drinking guidelines; and alcohol-related harms, including alcoholrelated
incidents of traffic offences, treatment, morbidity, mortality, and
self-reported harm from one’s own use and from others’ use of alcohol.