Taiwan should raise the legal drinking age to 21 to mitigate the health risks associated with alcohol, medical experts told an academic conference yesterday.
National Taiwan University professor emeritus of medicine Wang Cheng-yi (王正一) said alcohol consumption is linked to more than 200 diseases, including cirrhosis, liver cancer, stomach cancer and bowel cancer.
Drinking is also correlated to increased risks of traffic incidents and mental illness, which take a toll on society, he said.
Photo: Taipei Times
A survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2021 revealed that 14.1 percent of junior high-school students and 30.6 percent of senior high-school students had recently consumed alcohol, he said.
The same survey conducted in 2022 showed that 38.5 percent of college students had recently consumed alcohol, including 14.4 percent who drank an unhealthy amount, Wang said.
Starting drinking earlier in life is linked to increased risks of developing alcohol-related health problems later, he said.
Citing medical research in the US, Wang said raising the legal drinking age to 21 is correlated with lower rates of alcohol consumption and drunk driving-related traffic incidents, he said.
The Japanese government’s ban on drinking by people younger than 20 years old achieved similar results, Wang said, adding that Japan had retained the legal drinking age despite later reducing the age of majority to 18.
Taiwan’s drinking age of 18 could encourage adolescents one or two years younger than the legal limit to consume alcohol, while regulations do not stipulate measures for the prevention of underage drinking, he said.
Alcohol-related diseases cost the National Health Insurance NT$5.3 billion (US$161.01 million) annually, while all alcohol-related health problems, including those caused as a result of drunk driving, cost it NT$53 billion, National Health Insurance Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Lian-yu (陳亮妤) said.
Studies conducted by WHO and the US government suggest that every US$1 spent on preventing alcohol use saves US$7 by reducing illnesses, domestic violence and traffic incidents, she said.
Taiwan has 138 alcohol addiction treatment clinics, she said, adding that people who wish to seek help with alcohol addiction can obtain up to NT$40,000 in medical subsidies per year.
Ninety percent of people who undergo treatment reported cessation or reduction of alcohol consumption, she said.
On Friday, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said alcohol sold in the US should carry labels that clearly state the substance is a leading cause of cancer.
Alcohol consumption is to blame for nearly 1 million preventable cancer cases in the US over the past decade, he said, adding that about 20,000 people die every year from those alcohol-related cancer cases.
Additional reporting by AP
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